The Pale Horse
by Templarlady
Summary: Ulrich sends Bill and Alex back to England on a mission of mercy
1. Chapter 1

**The Pale Horse**

**And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. **

**Revelation 6:7**

The character of Bill Compton belongs to Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball, all other characters are my own.

Bill and I didn't really have much of a chance to announce our engagement as the entire Vampire authority was thrown into total chaos by Lilith's emergence as a separate personality. There was some disappointment from some of the more senior members when they discovered that, although they were no longer required to revere Bill as the vessel of the Goddess, Lilith clearly intended him to be her right hand man and took it upon herself to appoint him as High Chancellor without any consultation. Apparently there were quite a few complaints over this and one Chancellor even tried to tell her that she couldn't do it.

After the others had cleaned his remains off the carpet there was no further argument and Bill was confirmed as High Chancellor and Lilith's personal representative. She made it very clear that he was to be treated with the same reverence as herself.

We had returned to New York as The Authority had premises there and were back in the suite at the Lord Ruthven Hotel. I was sitting on the couch by the window looking out over the lights in Central Park.

"I hate to do this to you" said Bill. "You know how proud I am of you and it's not that I want to hide it, but I really think it would be better if we kept it quiet for now. There's so much going on at the moment and I'm going to be in the thick of it."

"And you don't know how Lilith will react to the news!" I replied.

There was a pause. Yes, I was right!

"Well, no…..I don't" he came over and sat down beside me. "I'm not sure that she even understands the concept of marriage" he said. "I'll have to talk to her, alone" he put a gentle hand on my arm. "You know that I would never risk any harm to you, and I really don't know how she might react. I told you what she did to Rodrigo!"

Rodrigo had been the argumentative Chancellor. She had reduced him to a pile of bloody chunks of flesh with a snap of her fingers.

"You know, I really don't think that she'd harm me directly" I said thoughtfully. "She knows that you would never forgive her for that."

"I still don't like to take the risk" said Bill, bending his head to kiss my fingers. "You don't mind very much do you?"

I leaned against him and put my head on his shoulder. "Of course not! I'm so relieved to have you back, that'll do me for now!"

Bill stared blankly out of the window for a moment. "I think I could have stopped her you know." he said suddenly. "At the museum. In that moment when she had driven out Lucilla, I might have been able to prevent her from leaving me. To keep her strength and her power." He looked up at me. "Did I do the right thing Alex? Should I have tried to keep her power? I've always been the weaker among vampires, I've always worried about you, your vulnerability. Should I have kept her strength, to protect you?"

I sighed and curled up against him. "Is that what you want? Strength and power?It's not all it's cracked up to be you know! You start out by thinking you're doing good, but people don't agree with you, so what do you do? Do you allow dissent in the ranks or do you carry on because you know you're right? And then one night you wake up and realise that you're so far over the line you can't remember where it was!" I paused and looked up at him, his pale skin reflecting the moonlight coming in through the window. "No. You did the right thing. The right thing for you, for us. But also for her."

I felt Bill's lips brush my hair. "Yes, you're right as usual. She needed to leave as much as I needed to be free of her. It was time..."

"How's she doing?"

"Well, apart from the occasional slip up like Rodrigo, she's coping remarkably well. Of course, if she wasn't, she'd never let anyone else know but I'm sure she would tell me. She asks for my advice, but generally when no one else is around, she can't afford to appear to rely too much on any one counsellor, even me!"

"So you're sort of, her Éminence grise, the power behind the throne?"

He laughed. "Yes, I suppose you could say that."

* * *

We had been living in the Hotel for about a month when Ulrich decided it was time to shake us up again.

I had been exploring New York with Susie by day and Bill had been closeted with Lilith and her advisors in meetings by night. We made the most of what overlap there was but I was beginning to wonder if our lives would ever be normal again. Well, what passed for 'normal' for us anyway.

I had got up just before dusk and was in the shower when I heard a knock at the door. Oops! I'd forgotten that I'd ordered food from room service! I turned off the shower and heard footsteps coming into the suite. They must have a master key! And he'd want a tip! I grabbed a towel as I heard the door close. I paused and listened at the door as the footsteps came closer.

"Would madam require any help in there?" came a slightly muffled voice.

"What?" I pulled the towel tightly around me and peeped out from behind the bathroom door.

Bill stood next to the trolley wearing his soft grey sleep pants, his hair slightly tousled.

I relaxed. "Oh you...!" He just stood there grinning at me. "For a moment there room service took on a whole new meaning!"

He blinked at me, a familiar gleam in his eye. "And what service would madam require?" he inquired politely.

"Well, you could scrub my back if you like?" I suggested.

His eyes shone in the dim light and I saw his fangs extend just a little. "Believe me there's nothing I'd like more, but sadly Ulrich has summoned us!"

"Oh not again!" I flung myself down on the bed, Bill's eyes widening as the towel slipped. "What am I supposed to do? Susie's off having her hair done!"

"I didn't make myself clear" he said sitting down on the bed beside me and leaning over to plant a delicate kiss on my stomach. "He wants both of us!"

"What?" I sat up and Bill gave a little moan as the towel slipped off completely. "He wants to see me as well? That can't be good!"

"That's what he said, so I suggest you put some clothes on before I lose control completely..." his hand slid around me and pulled me closer, his lips exploring my shoulder and heading up my neck. I turned my head to him and his mouth captured mine, his lips parted invitingly. I slipped my tongue between his lips and licked gently around the base of his fangs which were by now fully extended, something which I knew drove him wild... he gave another little moan and said "We really should be getting dressed!"

What with one thing and another, by the time we arrived at the Authority's conference room on the next floor down everyone else had already arrived. Lilith sat silent and regal in an elaborate chair at the head of the table. She was dressed casually in a pair of loose cotton trousers and a silk shirt. Susie and I had assisted in the acquisition of a suitable wardrobe which included several Egyptian style linen gowns for formal occasions. I was beginning to feel like some kind of handmaiden and I wasn't too happy about it!

"Ah! At last!" muttered Ulrich impatiently. "Well now that you're here I have something to tell you all."

He leaned forward with his elbows on the conference table and regarded us seriously. "As you all know there are groups of influential people, humans, both here and in Europe, who support our cause, who have assisted us in our fight for equal rights. Tonight I have received some rather disturbing news from our colleagues in England. The daughter of one of our more vampire-friendly politicians has gone missing. It appears that she was the one who persuaded her father to meet with representatives of the Authority. She seems to feel confortable with us" he glared around at us. "No-one is to mention the word "fangbanger" is that clearly understood?"

"Why is this disturbing?" asked Gerry. "What has it to do with us at all?"

Ulrich sat back in his chair. "It appears that she was friendly with a vampire who in his turn became friendly with a new nest. He took her to the village where they had their lair and introduced her to them..."

"Let me guess?" Bill said with a sigh. "They were Sanguinistas?"

"Right!"

"And what has this to do with us?" he asked.

"I want you to go back to England and see if you can find out what happened to her" said Ulrich bluntly.

Bill sat up sharply. "Oh no...not this time! I'm not going on any more reconnaissance missions for you Ulrich! I promised Alex." He glanced over at me. "Besides the likelihood is that the poor girl is dead!"

"We don't think so" answered Ulrich leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table. "All the nest have been arrested and questioned. In fact I supervised the questioning myself when I was in England last week. They all deny having seen her, and we think they're telling the truth."

"What makes you think that?" asked Gerry.

"They were questioned...thoroughly."

"Oh...I see!" Gerry looked down at his hands.

Ulrich turned back to Bill. "Well, what do you think? You can take all the security you need, it'll be perfectly safe and besides, you might find it interesting."

Bill's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?" he asked.

"Well, the village is close to Oxford, so you could spend some time at home. It's a fairly small village on the border of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. It's called Long Compton."

There was silence as everyone stared at Bill. "Hmm...might be interesting..."

"Bill!" I said warningly. "You promised me!"

He turned to me and took my hand. "Ulrich just said I can take all the security I need. It will all be open and above board, I won't be going in undercover like the last time. I'll be perfectly safe!"

"Okay fine! Then I'll come with you!"

"Oh now Alex...that's not a good idea!"

"Why not?" I was determined not to let him get away with this. "If it's so safe I'll be fine...right Ulrich?" I glared back at Bill. "And if it's not safe for me...then it's not safe for you either!"

Bill thought for a moment. "Okay, but you stay with me at all times all right? No wandering off on your own?"

"I'll stick to you like glue, honey" I gave him a sickly sweet little smile and he smiled back patiently.

"Glad that's sorted out" said Ulrich with only a slight touch of sarcasm.

"Mr Lucas is very helpful to our cause, and very powerful and influential. He has a very liberal outlook and has supported our fight for equal rights from the very beginning. It was his daughter who encouraged him in his liberal views. If any harm has come to her through us we're going to be in real trouble!"

"If you don't think the Sanguinistas took her then have you any ideas at all?" asked Bill.

Ulrich looked down at his hands for a moment. "Well…one of them did make a suggestion." He said looking highly embarrassed.

"And?...What was it?" asked Bill impatiently.

He sat up and took a deep breath. "He said she'd been stolen away by the faery folk!"

There was silence around the long table for a moment.

"Sheesh! What did you do to him?" sniggered Gerry.

"He was perfectly coherent!" snapped Ulrich. "Furthermore he appeared to be serious. He claimed that there had been many mysterious disappearances there over the years, that the old Inn where the lair was situated was haunted, all kinds of things. Apparently there is a ring of standing stones not far from the village which is supposed to be the home of the faery folk!"

"Every group of standing stones in England is supposed by some people to be the home of the faery folk!" I said quietly.

Bill sighed. "You do appreciate that it's far more likely that one of them killed her and disposed of the body somewhere?"

Ulrich turned his cold gaze on him. "Trust me….if any of them knew where she was, they would have told me!"

I thought of the torture device Bill had described to me. The one that injected electrolytically refined silver directly into the vampire's veins and shivered. I supposed it was possible that Bill and I, and maybe Lilith, were the only ones present who knew that the faery folk actually existed. Then suddenly I remembered the creature we had found in Queen Francesca's cells in Chicago. I looked around the table, Ulrich had been there, Gerry too. They had both seen Bill and Lilith open a portal to Faery to allow the creature to return. Was this perhaps why he was so determined that Bill should go? Admittedly the creature hadn't resembled what your average fairy was supposed to look like so maybe they hadn't appreciated what the realm on the other side of the portal actually was.

It suddenly struck me that maybe Bill wasn't, in fact, the best person to deal with this problem. Perhaps I'd be able to help him!

I glanced at Lilith to see how she was taking this since she had made no comment so far. She didn't look too pleased as far as I could tell but she remained silent. I assumed that she and Ulrich had discussed the possibility of Bill leaving before we arrived.

"May we have your thoughts on the matter my Lady?" asked Ulrich. Looking up the table to where she sat.

There was a sudden hush as everyone turned to look at her. "You know I do not wish you to leave me William" she said with a little smile. "But this is an important assignment and I am sure that you and Alex would like to visit your home in England again. I know that you have a place in your heart for humans and that you will do your best to help this man to be reunited with his daughter if this is possible. We shall return to England in a few weeks and I shall see you again then."

Ulrich stood up abruptly, evidently the meeting was over! "I'll arrange for your flights back to England and for some of the Authority's Security to meet you at the airport." He turned to the red haired vampire sitting next to him and taking notes. "Sonjia, I want them on the first flight back."

She smiled at Bill who didn't appear to react. I was annoyed nevertheless. Ulrich's new secretary never missed an opportunity to simper at Bill and it was beginning to annoy me. Suddenly a trip back to England began to look like a good idea!

"You can go back to Oxford first and make arrangements to visit Long Compton from there" advised Ulrich. "The house they were using used to be an old Coaching Inn, apparently parts of it date back to the Civil War. It's called 'The Pale Horse'."


	2. Chapter 2

The flight from New York was a disaster. We were held up for what seemed like hours on the tarmac at New York by fog and then again over London for some reason that I never actually discovered. The result was to make us several hours late and Bill and I arrived at the Mill House with minutes to spare before dawn. As we drove over the little hump backed bridge beside the Mill and pulled into the yard I felt a sense of profound relief. We were home and we were finally alone. Well, okay there was a minibus full of security guards coming up behind us but they didn't count as far as I was concerned. Lilith wasn't here and that was all that mattered to me. Dan and Azaria had stayed in New York for another few nights and would not be joining us until the weekend.

Bill and I jumped out of the car and headed for the front door.

"Ask one of Harry's guys to get the luggage out would you?" Bill asked as he pulled the keys out of his pocket and opened the door.

"Leave all that to me. You need to get downstairs!" I said trying to hurry him up.

"Just one moment! There's something I want to do first."

"You don't have time Bill! Bill!..." I gave a little squeak as he pushed the door open and swept me up into his arms, carrying me over the threshold and into the wide stone hallway.

I clung to him, laughing. "You're supposed to do that when we're married, not when we're just engaged!" I said.

"So that just means I get to do it again!" he laughed. "But you're right, I can feel the sunrise approaching." He kissed me and put me down on the rug in front of the empty fireplace. "I'll see you at dusk sweetheart!" There was a rush of air and he was gone.

I stood for a moment before the huge cold stone fireplace, trying to decide whether I wanted a cup of coffee or just to fall into bed beside Bill. There was the slight sound of a footstep on the stone flags and I turned to see Harry looking quickly around the hallway.

"Everything okay Miss?" he asked.

"Hello Harry! Has Ulrich appointed you as my personal security?"

"Well, not exactly Miss..." he looked a little embarrassed. "Actually I asked Herr Von Shroeder for the assignment personally. I..." he glanced around the empty hall. "I never got a chance to thank you Miss, for what happened in the Museum. I don't quite know what you did, but I know I'd be dead if it weren't for you."

We stared at each other from opposite sides of the hall. "Would you like a coffee Harry?" I asked.

"Thank you Miss. I'll just check the perimeter first..." he hurried out and I sighed deeply and headed into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

Ten minutes later we were sitting on opposite sides of the big oak kitchen table clutching mugs of instant coffee. I really wasn't sure what to say to him so I decided on the truth.

"You must never repeat what I'm going to tell you Harry!" I said sternly.

He looked quite offended. "Of course not Miss!"

"What I did...it was...I have power Harry. I used it to throw that man off you. I don't even really know how I did it. I only know that I was furious and I wanted him away from you."

He stared at me in silence for a moment, digesting this information. "Does it come from Mr Compton?" he asked.

"No...no, it's nothing to do with Mr Compton. Although I might never have known about it if it wasn't for him."

"Then where...?"

I sighed. "Do you believe in fairies Harry?" I asked.

He grinned at me over his coffee and I watched his face change as he realised that I was serious. "You're not talking about little twinkly fairies are you Miss?"

"No...they're not little and they're certainly not twinkly!"

He thought about this. "Well...if someone had asked me five years ago if I believed in vampires I'd have said no. And I'd have been wrong wouldn't I!"

"I couldn't tell you exactly what they are or even where they are, they appear to occupy some other plane of existence now, but they lived here among us in the past and some people are descended from them, have faery blood in their veins, and I'm one of them."

Harry drank the rest of his coffee in silence, considering. "You say you don't know how you did it? How you used this power?"

"Not really no."

"Then I would suggest you find out Miss. Practice, learn how to use it, how to control it. I've worked for vampires for some time now and I can assure you that power like that could come in very useful!"

I smiled. "I suspect you're right there Harry!" We both sat for a moment in silence and then I got up and put my mug in the sink. "Well, I need to get some sleep! I'll see you later." I headed for the cellar door leaving Harry sitting at the kitchen table lost in thought.

I woke a few hours before dusk. For a few seconds I was disorientated, the layout of the room in the dim light was unfamiliar at first as I was so used to hotel rooms, then I remembered where I was and relaxed. I rolled onto my side and looked down at Bill's still form lying beside me. He looked peaceful and relaxed and I smiled to myself feeling the same relief I had felt every time I watched him sleep since she had left him. He was mine again, although his time as the vessel of the goddess together with his position as High Chancellor had raised his profile considerably and he had been brought to the attention of several powerful vampires. I was not entirely sure that this was a good thing. I leaned down and kissed him gently then slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Half an hour later I was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a slice of toast. Harry's security men had evidently done some shopping for essentials and there was milk and Tru Blood in the fridge and various other supplies in the cupboards. As I ate I pondered what Harry had said to me, that I should try to learn to control my power. It was a sensible idea, but I had no idea how to go about it! I sat staring into space for a while and then stood up and shook myself. This wasn't helping was it? I picked up my coffee and headed outside to see what had been going on in the garden while we were away.

Well I was glad to see that someone had, at least, cut the lawn. I wandered around, sipping my coffee, idly pulling deadheads off the rosebushes and enjoying the late evening sun. Eventually I wandered back to the house and sat down in an old garden chair next to the back door. On top of the low wall around the yard was an old earthenware flowerpot, chipped and patterned with a spiderweb of cracks by the frost. I sat staring at it and thinking of what I had done in the Field Museum in Chicago. Three of the Fellowship of the Sun protesters had Harry on the floor and one had pulled a knife from his boot. I remembered the white hot fury I had felt at the thought of that creep hurting a good man, a man I considered to be my friend. Without thinking about it I raised my hand and concentrated on the flower pot. I felt something like a faint electric shock and to my complete surprise the earthenware pot shattered with a bang.

I actually got up and walked over, picking up the pieces and examining them, before I could bring myself to believe that I had done this. Perhaps the cracks had got too much, I thought to myself. The change in temperature as the sun began to go down might have caused the pot to fail. I opened the barn door and found half a dozen more flower pots which I brought out and lined up on the low wall. I had destroyed four of them and felt that I was beginning to understand what I was doing when I felt something through the blood bond and knew that Bill had come silently up behind me.

"Having fun are we?" he asked.

"I can do this Bill! I can control it!" I replied excitedly, gazing, fascinated at the broken pots.

"And what made you decide to test your new-found power on my poor, inoffensive flower pots?"

I turned to him, meaning to explain, when a thought struck me. "Well actually, they're my flower pots. Unless there was some clause in all that paperwork that I signed which said that you got to keep the fixtures and fittings?"

Bill opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. "Ah...yes. Well, please go ahead and destroy as many of your flower pots as you please." He moved up closer behind me and slipped his arms around me, nuzzling into my neck and giving me a soft kiss. "Am I still permitted to stay in your house?" he kissed me again. "Please?"

I laughed. "Don't be silly! I can't wait to sign it all back to you!"

He hugged me tightly to him. "I may not have told anyone about our engagement but I still intend to make you my wife Miss Morgan! Then you can...what's the expression? 'endow me with all your worldly goods'."

I giggled. "Does that mean you get to obey me as well?"

"Oh, I don't know about that...this is the 21st century you know...though I would like to make it clear that I'm prepared to worship you with my body any time you like!"

"I'll just bet you are!" I reached up and drew his face down to me for another kiss.

Without taking his mouth from mine he picked me up and walked over to the garden chair where he sat down with me in his lap. "So...are you going to explain what you're up to?"

So I sat in his arms and told him about my conversation with Harry that morning. How he had advised me to learn how to use my power, to practice it.

"That's a very sensible suggestion." he said looking down at me seriously. "You know, to affect a physical object, to break it like that, takes a considerable amount of power!"

"Then it's best if I learn to control it, don't you think?"

"You certainly should, maybe you can learn to shape it, direct it. I have some experience with Lilith's power, I could help you. As it is we'll be fine if we're ever attacked by an army of angry flower pots!"

He clung to me, laughing as I tried ineffectually to wriggle free. Eventually I was laughing so much myself that I gave up and relaxed back into his arms...

The next night we climbed into Bill's Aston Martin and set off. We took the A44 north heading for Chipping Norton then branched off on a minor road signposted to Long Compton. We were driving between high hedges until we came up on a ridge and Bill pulled over into a lay-by and got out of the car. We squeezed through a gap in the hedge and onto the edge of a field and looked down on several farms and the village spread out along the road ahead. Reaching up from the centre of the village was the spire of the local church of St Peter and St Paul.

"It looks so peaceful doesn't it" whispered Bill. "It's hard to imagine that three hundred and fifty years ago this countryside was fought over time and time again during a Civil War."

I watched him as he gazed down over the moonlit fields and I guessed that he was thinking about his own experiences of war.


	3. Chapter 3

England 1642

Edgehill is a ridge on the border of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire three hundred feet high above the plain and three miles long, about a dozen miles north of my home village of Long Compton. The King and his army came to it because he was moving towards London. Parliament's forces were dispersed around various local garrisons at, Worcester, Coventry and Warwick Castle. On a bright cold morning in October the Parliamentary forces finally left Worcester and headed east. They had no idea where the King and his army were and the King was equally ignorant of their whereabouts. Unused to war the heavy cavalry clung to the army instead of carrying out reconnaissance, so when the Royalists reached the village of Wormleighton they had no idea that the Parliamentarians were anywhere near until they met some Parliament men who were also looking for somewhere to spend the night. Prince Rupert, the commander, took them prisoner and sent out scouts who reported that the whole army was nearby. They arrived on the ridge at dawn and by mid-morning were looking down on the Parliament forces in the valley. I learned later that there were fifteen men on the field that day whose fate it would be to sign the warrant for the death of a King, not to mention two future Kings, Charles II and James II.

Further up the ridge was an excited young man who had been sent by his father to arrange for the collection of a load of turnips with a merchant in Kineton. I was on my way home when I spotted the outlying foot soldiers and quickly tied my old horse amongst some trees and lay downwind on the ridge on my stomach to watch. We knew that the King had raised his standard at Nottingham in August and, although there had been a few small skirmishes so far, this looked to me as if it would be a major pitched battle. I was sixteen years old and very foolish. Looking back on my actions now I realise that I am lucky to be alive, but at the time I had no idea of the danger I was in. Why would I? We had no experience of war! The last major battle fought on English soil had been the Battle of Bosworth Field over one hundred and fifty years ago.

Many long hours later I was cold and stiff but still dared not move from my hiding place. Only when night fell did I crawl away down the ridge to the copse where I had left my horse. The air was heavy with the coppery scent of blood overlaid with smoke from musket fire and the groans of dying men.

Father was waiting for me when I eventually returned but his anger dissolved as soon as he got a look at my face.

"Thomas? What's happened...?"

I walked towards him, my face blank with shock from the horror I had witnessed and he took me in his arms and hugged me as he had when I was a child.

"Where on earth have you been? Your mother has been frantic with worry! We heard that Parliament's men had been seen to the north of here..."

"Yes!" I gulped through dry lips. "The army was camped at Edgehill, I saw them." I stared up at him. "Father...the King's army was there too...I saw...I watched..." I leaned my head on his broad muscular chest and burst into tears.

He took hold of me by the shoulders and pushed me away from him, his eyes running over my body. "You're not hurt? You weren't caught up in a fight were you?"

"Oh Father! This was much more than that!"

He drew me over to the settle before the fire and sat down with me while I related everything I had seen. When I had finished he sat beside me in silence for a while.

"You should go to bed Thomas and try to get some sleep. We'll have a long day tomorrow" he said gently. "We must go into the village and let people know what happened. It's likely the remnants of both armies will be roaming the countryside by morning looking for food and shelter, people need to be warned to prepare."

He turned back to me and asked casually, as an afterthought, "who won?"

"I...I don't know. The fields were littered with the bodies of dead men and horses...how could I tell?"

Father sighed, "How indeed?"

The next morning we headed up the valley to the village and walked into the courtyard of the Inn. It had been built nearly a hundred years ago by my father's grandfather, old Erasmus Compton and was run now by my uncle Nathaniel, father's older brother. It was called "The Pale Horse" a name which pleased my uncle, a stern puritan who was fond of telling us that all men would come to death sooner or later and to be sure that our sins would find us out. Erasmus Compton had become somewhat obsessed with death in his later years. A consequence, so father told us, of the night that he believed that he had seen the Devil up at the stone circle a few miles from the farm. I had been born and brought up on the farm so I was no stranger to death but I considered that I had seen enough of him in the last twenty four hours to last me a lifetime! I sat outside in the courtyard gazing up at the Inn Sign which had been painted by old Erasmus himself and watching uncle Nathaniel's pot-man watering a new exotic plant he had recently installed beside the door to the main room of the Inn.

Father had insisted that, although I was really needed to work on the farm, I should attend the village school and learn to read and write and thanks to him I was able to read the news-sheets that were left at the Inn by visitors. These were mostly published in London and it was clear from reading these and talking to men who stopped at the Inn that most people were unaware that they were about to fight an "English Civil War". Later on in the conflict people would be stopped in the streets and asked "Are you for the King or Parliament?" But early on there was no clear choice of sides to take. Some thought that they were beginning a religious war against the Antichrist. I felt sure that my uncle Nathaniel fell into this category. Others, that they were fighting a conspiracy of Catholics who were working to destroy the true church. For others it was a matter of honour to support their anointed King. The names "Royalist" and "Parliamentarian" covered a vast coalition of differences some of which overlapped sufficiently to divide father from son and brother from brother.

I was sitting and thinking quietly on a bench in the courtyard when I heard the clatter of hoofbeats on the cobbles outside. I looked up to see three mounted cavaliers ride into the courtyard. I jumped up and ran inside to fetch father and uncle Nathaniel. When they got outside the three men had dismounted and one, obviously the officer in charge, stepped forward.

"Fetch me the Innkeeper!" he said sharply to father.

Father gestured to his brother. "This man is the Innkeeper sir" he replied mildly.

"I'll need beds for my officers my good man, they need rest and good food."

"And the rest of your men?" asked Nathaniel. "We heard that many were killed at Edgehill yesterday."

The officer looked surprised for a moment. "The rest of my men will find beds in the local villages but more importantly I need to requisition horses. Where can I find horses?"

Nathaniel gazed up at him sullenly, he wasn't about to assist him if he could possibly help it.

"Come on man! I need to speak to the owner of the local Livery Stables, local farmers and the like!"

"I have a farm in the valley south of here" said father quietly.

"Then I will need to requisition your horses!"

"And how do you propose to pay for my horses?" he asked.

"Pay! I don't intend to pay! You will hand them over as your contribution to the King's army!"

"He most certainly won't" muttered Nathaniel.

Father glared at him and then back at the officer angrily. "And how do you propose to feed the King's army sir?"

"You're a farmer and you ask me that? We shall requisition what we need the same way we shall requisition your horses!" he thought for a moment. "And your oxen, I need beef to feed my officers!"

Father regarded him calmly. "You seem to be an intelligent man, and yet you cannot see that there will be nothing for you to requisition if I have no horses and no oxen to help me bring my crops in from the fields! Yes, you need mounts for the army, I can see that, but my plough horses are not the mounts you need. I need them more if your army is not to starve sir!"

The officer glared right back at him. "How dare you speak to me like that! Take care that I don't summon my men and simply take what I need!"

"I'm sure you could sir" answered father with considerable restraint. "You could strip the entire village of anything of use to your army and then move on. But this will not help you in the long run. If you wish to win this war then you need the people on your side...If you leave us our draught animals we can provide wheat for bread to feed your troopers, fodder for your horses. We have no wish to hinder your progress sir, we only wish to be allowed to live our lives in relative peace."

Fortunately it appeared that father was correct in his assessment of the officer's intelligence as he eyed him speculatively. I noticed that half a dozen other men had come out of the Inn and were standing behind Nathaniel, looking equally uncooperative.

"Very well, no draught animals or plough horses but I need riding horses, one only, plus a cow from each farmstead, and there is one other thing...you were right about the Battle at Edgehill. I see that you are god-fearing men, I need help to bury our dead..."

And so it was that I found myself, along with almost every able-bodied man in the village and most of the surrounding farmsteads heading back to the battlefield from which I had fled the previous night. It was a terrible sight. The dead horses had been removed, presumably to feed the remaining soldiers and many of the dead had also been taken away by grieving camp followers. Broken pikes and smashed muskets lay trodden into the mud. We found a suitable site at the side of a wide field and began to dig. Rather to my surprise uncle Nathaniel was the only one who raised any objection.

"We don't know who these men are William!" he said. "They may not be godly men, some of them could be damned papists for all we know to the contrary."

Father sighed and turned to him. "They were all Englishmen brother, and deserve to rest in English soil, not to be left as food for the ravens! Besides, they are far beyond your judgment now!" He tossed Nathaniel a spade. "Just dig!"


	4. Chapter 4

We left Bill's car in a car park off the main street and walked down to The Pale Horse. The old Inn was a long, three story building in the centre of the village. The ground floor was built of warm yellow Cotswold stone and the upper two floors half timbered in the Tudor fashion with whitewash in between the black timbers. In the centre of the ground floor was a large archway leading through into a small, cobbled courtyard. To the right of the arch was a flight of stone steps going up about three feet to a small door. To the left two stone window bays protruded outwards about two feet, each with three tall gothic arched windows. The second floor was built out on buttresses and the third further out again so that the building seemed to loom over you and overhang the roadway in front of it. The tall pitched roof was covered in grey stone slates with a large chimney at either end.

I peered under the arch into the courtyard and saw a half timbered balcony along the right hand side of the small cobbled area with another arched doorway underneath. Beside the doorway was a wisteria which had grown up over the balcony and poured a waterfall of purple flowers down the warm yellow stones.

Bill pushed the door open and walked into the main room of the old Inn. Harry and his men had followed us in and the two men in the bar took a step backwards as we entered, clearly intimidated by the heavily armed security men. Bill smiled and turned back to Harry.

"Could your men check out the rest of the building please?" he asked.

Harry eyed the two men and seemed to decide that they didn't pose a threat to Bill. "Of course Mr Compton Sir."

As he left one of the men stepped forward and held out his hand. "You must be Archchancellor Compton?" He dropped his hand suddenly, evidently recalling that vampires didn't generally like to shake hands. "My name is Adam Hastings, I'm Mr Lucas's Parliamentary Private Secretary. This is Peter Venables, the local vicar." He gestured at his companion, an elderly man in a battered tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows.

Rather to my surprise the vicar smiled broadly at Bill. "I'm very pleased to meet you Mr Compton! Or should I call you Archchancellor?"

Bill laughed. "Please! Bill will do fine!"

"I'm something of a local historian so I'm interested to meet a Compton from America. You come from the south I believe?" he asked curiously.

"Louisiana. I was a farmer before the Civil War, and then a soldier..."

"Ah yes! The Inn here dates back to the English Civil War you know." Mr Venables was clearly about to give us the benefit of his extensive local knowledge but Mr Hastings put a hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you Vicar but Mr Compton has come to try and help us discover what happened to Amanda."

The vicar's face fell. "Oh of course. That poor girl." He glanced around and then turned back to Bill. "Her father clings to the hope that she's alive somewhere and I do so hope he's right, but I met some of the vampires who lived here I'm afraid and I don't hold out too much hope myself. I have to admit that your...friends... were not well liked in the village."

Bill's expression hardened. "I can assure you Mr Venables that the vampires who lived here were no friends of mine!"

The vicar looked slightly encouraged by this statement but before he could reply an inner door opened and two more men came in. One I recognised immediately. It was Olivier Bertrand, the Magister for Europe. He smiled at us.

"Welcome to The Pale Horse Mr Compton, Miss Morgan." He gave each of us a little bow as he spoke and then turned back to the man who had come in with him. The newcomer was tall and had the determined look of someone who was used to getting their own way. He had a shock of grey hair and was dressed in an expensive designer suit.

"This is Mr Andrew Lucas. Andrew, this is Archchancellor Compton of the Vampire Authority. Chancellor Von Shröeder has asked him personally to investigate your daughter's disappearance."

"Mr Lucas." Bill turned to him. "I do sincerely hope that I will be able to find some information on what happened to your daughter, but I feel it is only fair to warn you that it's very likely that we will discover nothing. You need to be prepared for the worst. I'm so sorry!"

"They have all tried to tell me that Archchancellor, but I don't believe it. I love my daughter sir, if she were dead, I would know it." He looked straight into Bill's eyes. "Do you have children Mr Compton?" Then he seemed to realise what he had said and turned away. "Forgive me, of course you couldn't know..."

"Yes."

Lucas looked back at Bill, surprised. "I had a son, Thomas. I lost him at ten years old. Smallpox...it couldn't happen now, but this was in the late eighteen hundreds when smallpox was rife. I also had a daughter, Sarah. She is long dead too of course, as are my grandchildren, and my great grandchildren." He sighed, "Believe me Mr Lucas, I know what it is to lose a child. It was over a century ago but I remember the pain of losing Thomas as if it were only yesterday and I will continue to remember it for as long as I walk this earth. Please be assured that I will do everything in my power to find your daughter, but you must be prepared for the fact that I may fail."

He reached out and put a hand on Bill's arm. "I believe that you will do your best Mr Compton. I can only hope that your best will be good enough."

Bill smiled gently and turned to the Magister. "Olivier, Ulrich said something about interrogations? I assume that there were transcripts taken of what the Sanginistas actually said? I'll need copies please."

"Of course, I'll have them sent to your rooms at once" answered Olivier.

"Rooms?" asked Bill, puzzled. "What rooms?"

"We assumed that you would stay at the Inn" he replied.

"Oh! Who owns this place then? I understood it was the property of the nest that you were investigating?"

"Ah yes! Well, Ulrich suggested to the leader that he sign it over to the Authority" explained Olivier with a tight little smile.

"And how did he take this 'suggestion'" asked Bill.

"Oh, he agreed" answered Olivier, "...eventually." Olivier's naturally friendly face had gone cold and I shivered at the thought of how Ulrich might have enforced his 'suggestion'.

"I don't imagine that the original rooms would be light tight?"

"Oh no. They excavated a considerable living space in the cellars, the rooms they used are down there."

My mind went blank for a moment and my heart seemed to skip a beat. Bill's head came round immediately and he put out a hand to me. "What is it Alex? Are you okay?"

"Yes...yes, I'm fine." It sounded unconvincing, even to me and I knew that he had felt my sudden fear through the bond.

"Alex?"

"Oh...it's nothing to worry about. I just don't like the idea of going into vampires' basements, that's all. You never quite know what you're going to find, do you?"

I saw understanding dawn in his eyes as he remembered Darius's cells. "You don't have to come down if you don't want to" he whispered to me. "I'm sure that they can find you a room upstairs..."

"No, it's okay. I'd rather be with you."

He gave me a quick hug and then turned back to the others. "That will be very helpful Olivier, thank you."

Mr Lucas gave him a little nod and he and his secretary went out with Olivier, leaving Bill and I with Mr Venables.

"This is your parish Mr Venables?" asked Bill, politely.

"That's right, and please call me Peter, all my parishioners do!"

Bill smiled. "And am I likely to be introduced to any distant relatives?" he asked.

"Oh no! I'm afraid not. The last of the Comptons in the village died many years ago, although we understand that one branch of the family left for the American Colonies during the Civil War." He sounded faintly hopeful, as though he thought Bill could provide the last piece in a puzzle.

"I always understood that my ancestors came from England, but I don't know when or from where exactly I'm afraid."

"Ah...I see." the vicar smiled encouragingly at him. "There are quite a few places in England with "Compton" in the name actually. "Little Compton, Compton Abbas, Compton Bassett". The name of course comes from the Old English Cumbtun meaning 'farmstead or village in the valley'. I have a diary, a journal of sorts, written by a Thomas Compton, one of the farming family who left for America. Perhaps you'd be interested to see it?"

"Why certainly, I'd be fascinated!"

While Bill was speaking to Peter I wandered over into the large lounge which had presumably been the main room of the original Inn. The room was lit by a tall standard lamp in one corner and on the far wall hung two paintings. I walked over to look at them as they both looked very old. They were both covered with a dark varnish, stained and cracked with age and appeared to my amateur eye to have been painted by the same hand. One was clearly the old Inn sign. It showed a pale horse with a cloaked, skeletal rider holding a tall scythe in one hand. He stood before a building which was too worn to make out but which could have been the one in which we stood.

I turned to the second painting. It was a little clearer, obviously it had never hung outside in all weathers like the other. It showed a portion of a stone circle at what was either sunset, or sunrise. The trees behind the stones looked somehow dark and threatening and between two of the stones stood...I peered closer...

"Bill!...Come here!"

Bill was at my side before I had finished speaking, his arm around me.

"What is it?"

"Look at this..." I pointed to the painting and Bill froze.

"Ah!...I see you've found "The Devil of the Stones". Peter had followed Bill into the lounge and was looking over our shoulders at the painting.

"It's supposed to have been painted by one of the original Innkeepers, he would have been a Compton too of course, who also painted the Inn sign there." He gestured at the other painting. "They have both been dated to the late 16th century, about the time the Inn was built. It's said that the man saw the Devil one night at the Rollright Stones. Most of his friends and acquaintances assumed that he was simply drunk, especially as he was unable to describe accurately what he had seen, so he painted it instead." He peered over the top of his glasses at the painting. "I've always found it interesting that it's not anything like the conventional portrayal of the Devil in Medieval Art."

Bill and I glanced at each other. It certainly wasn't! It was, however, a remarkably accurate portrayal of the creature we had seen in the cells in the basement of Queen Francesca de Luca's property in Chicago.

It was a Sabiru.

One of the creatures that Lilith had described as the Guardians of Faery. Suddenly the theory that Amanda Lucas had been spirited away by the Faery Folk was beginning to look a lot more plausible!


	5. Chapter 5

**England 1643**

The battle that I had witnessed the previous year proved to be only the beginning. The counties to the west of us, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire were of vital importance during the Civil War for the supply of food, uniforms and munitions. The area also controlled vital routes by road and river and the three lucrative ports of Bristol, Minehead and Gloucester and was therefore constantly alive with the movement of troops.

Our farm was in the valley to the south of the village and we grew mainly wheat as part of a rotation system with barley and peas or beans. We also had some cattle and sheep which grazed on the open fields after the harvest. Being further to the east we were spared the full effect of various armies scavenging the local farms for corn, peas, sheep, cows and fruit. We heard of many further west who had lost the teams of oxen and horses that normally pulled the ploughs and carted the produce to the network of markets and fairs in small towns. Fortunately, father's conversation with the officer the previous summer had spared us that.

Father appeared largely unconcerned about the outcome of the war. The most controversial opinion I ever heard from him was an expression of mild disapproval of the King's foreign wife, the Catholic Henrietta Maria. Uncle Nathaniel however, being a staunch Puritan, had many contacts in the Parliamentary party and through him I gained a fair knowledge of the troop movements in the area. By November 1642, Somerset and Wiltshire were largely under the control of Parliament together with most of the ports and the clothing towns, which were largely puritan in religion, with small garrisons established in most of the towns. Suddenly, however, the situation was changed by the arrival of strong royalist forces from outside the area. A fierce struggle for control therefore took place as we discovered that the king had established his headquarters at Oxford in November.

Whenever I was not needed on the farm I would slip away up to the village and sit quietly in the common room of The Pale Horse listening to Uncle Nathaniel's friends drinking small beer and discussing the course of their holy cause. One day in June we heard from a family who were travelling north that a new royalist army from Cornwall had arrived that month in Somerset, led by Sir Ralph Hopton. Uncle Nathaniel was so eager for information that he invited the family to stay the night and sat for hours in the common room talking with the man, a farmer from just outside Taunton.

"Aye!" The man looked tired and worn. "They arrived just a few weeks ago and garrisoned Bridgewater, Dunster and Taunton. I knew then it was best to leave. The wife has family further north, hopefully I'll be able to find work there."

"Should you not have stayed and fought for our cause?" asked Nathaniel.

"Don't be a fool man! I'd have had no choice in the matter. Men were being recruited from all the local farms to fight in the King's Army! I've a wife and children to think about. If I'd stayed I'd have ended up a pikeman fighting against men whose cause I agreed with..." the man took a deep swig of his beer. "Why should I risk my life fighting for a King who believes that he was appointed by God? And who would take care of my family and my farm? The army's overrun the whole area like rats, stealing anything that's not nailed down!"

I sat quietly listening to their conversation and slowly began to appreciate that, although there were problems as the war had taken men from the countryside to fight, no less traumatic was the effect of repeated plundering and the disruption caused by the relentless progress of hungry armies of both sides as they roamed across the countryside. I learned that Parliament had despatched an army of its own under Sir William Waller to strengthen the resistance of local forces and to halt at all costs the King's advance on London. The two armies eventually met in two battles in July. The first was a fairly indecisive battle just outside Bath, which saw the royalist forces badly mauled. The second took place a few days later on the flat top of Roundway Down, near Devizes. There, in a complete reversal of fortune, the royalists totally routed Waller's men as they fled across the down. This success enabled Hopton to turn westwards to capture both Bath and Bristol. The remainder of the counties to the west of us quickly fell into the king's hands, with the exception of Gloucester. That city, under the defiant leadership of Colonel Edward Massey, survived a long siege in August, when a garrison of just 1400 men faced the king's own army of some 30 000 and held out until a relief force was able to come to their aid.

Meanwhile, despite this disruption, father did his best to keep the normal work of the farm going and to make our family life as normal as possible. Every Sunday he and mother would take us to church in the village, my sisters Alice and Sarah and I dressed in our best clothes and young Edward, my baby brother carried in mother's arms. The church of St Peter and St Paul was an impressive building, which had been built from local stone about three hundred years ago. It had escaped the worst excesses of the iconoclasts since, although the building itself had been funded by the profits from the local wool trade, the village was too poor to be able to afford too much in the way of decoration. Therefore there was very little for them to remove and destroy when the high church reforms of Archbishop Laud sparked off a spate of attacks on anything considered to be too decorative for a Protestant church.

I have to admit that my friends and I found the Sabbath to be a day to be endured in boredom. In many parishes it was illegal to play football, and generally it was unlawful to play any game on the Sabbath Day. Although some craftsmen, carpenters, blacksmiths and the like, did no work on the Sabbath, father was far more relaxed about this since there was always work on the farm which had to be done, regardless of holy days. Cows had to be milked, stock fed and eggs collected. By-laws tried to stamp out drinking on Sundays and festivals. But although in our parish Inns were allowed to sell Ale on Sunday, uncle Nathaniel wouldn't hear of it and provided only food to any guests who happened to be staying at the Inn. He told me that Taverns and Alehouses were sometimes searched during Sunday services to seek out those who should have been at church and offenders were reported to the Bishop. He disapproved of this practice however, since this did not endear the over-zealous clergy to the people, who were thereby encouraged to take the Royalist side against the puritans.

Father soon noticed that I was less than happy doing nothing on Sundays but going to church and so he devised a task for me that he considered suitable for the Sabbath. One day he called me to him in the barn and we saddled up two horses and rode off to the easternmost edge of our land. I had rarely ridden this way as it took us past the ancient ring of standing stones on the ridge which were said to be a haunt of the faery folk. I didn't believe this tale but nevertheless the place made me uneasy for some reason and I avoided it unlike my sister Alice who seemed to spend a lot of her time there. Father, however, passed the stone circle without comment and pulled up on the next ridge looking down into a broad valley. He pointed at a small copse of young oak saplings.

"There, you see that Thomas?" he asked. "When I was your age and fidgeted in church my father found me a job to do. He wanted me to put something back into this land. Comptons have farmed here for generations and that is just a small gesture of our gratitude to the earth that sustains us." He began to walk his horse down the shallow slope to the little wood. "I planted this Thomas, when I was no older than you are now." He turned to me with a smile. "My friends laughed at me, they called it 'William's Copse' as a joke and truly it was hardly anything then, but I've tended it and cared for it and one day, perhaps hundreds of years from now when I am just forgotten dust in the corner of the churchyard, this wood will be a place of peace. Alive with wildflowers and animals, and perhaps people will wonder how it came to be here..."

We rode down in silence and pulled up on the edge of the little wood. "Will you help me Thomas?" he asked.

I almost dropped the reins with shock. Father had never asked me to help him before. He had expected my assistance on the farm as a matter of course and taught me everything I knew about the land, but he had never before suggested that I had a choice. I looked down at the little wood. I could see how new growth was spreading out from the original planting and suddenly I wanted this place to be mine as well as father's. I stood up in my stirrups and looked down the faint trackway. "Beeches!" I said. "I could plant beeches along the track, they would spread back into the wood amongst the oaks."

"Good idea! You can start tomorrow...after you've helped me with the milking!"

After that, whenever I had a spare moment I would ride out to the copse with beech cuttings and manure from the horses to feed my young trees.

I noticed, vaguely that Alice was often heading in the same direction and one day I asked her outright what it was that she found so interesting at the stone circle. She blushed hotly and told me to mind my own business, from which I deduced that she was probably meeting a young man. I wondered for a moment if I should tell mother and father but decided that she was right...it was none of my business.

Then came that fateful day when Matthew Hopkins came to The Pale Horse.

By chance I was in the cellar at the time helping uncle Nathaniel with a new barrel of Ale. By the time we came up to the common room he had been served by the potman and was talking quietly with some of the regulars. Uncle Nathaniel recognised him, he had seen him once on a visit to London.

"Calls himself 'the witchfinder'!" he muttered quietly to me. You'd best get back home lad, he's not a man to get on the wrong side of..."

I had just finished telling father what had happened when we heard a group of horses coming down the lane. Father and I went out to meet them and to my horror Hopkins was in the lead. He wore a long black cloak over his jerkin and breeches and a tall black felt hat.

"You are William Compton?" he asked, getting down from the saddle and handing the reins to his companion.

"Who wants to know?" asked father suspiciously.

"I am Matthew Hopkins the witchfinder and I should like to see your daughter sir."

"I have two daughters sir, and I'm not inclined to ask either of them to come out here for no good reason!"

Hopkins gave him a supercilious smile. "I have been informed that your daughter Alice owns a black cat. Is this true?"

"Neither of my daughters owns a cat. There are cats on the farm but they do not belong to my daughters specifically." I noticed that father's tone was becoming a little irritated at this interrogation.

"Why would you, a godfearing man, own a black cat, when these are known to be one of the animals owned by witches as familiars?" asked Hopkins, his dark eyes narrowing and boring into father's blue ones.

He laughed. "Don't be ridiculous man! Every farm in England has half a dozen cats. Do you think I have time to check their colours? I will have a barn full of grain come harvest time, without them I'd be up to my arse in rats!

I heard a few sniggers from the men who had accompanied Hopkins and he glared around angrily.

"I need to examine your daughter sir, and I'm not leaving until I've seen her!" snapped Hopkins.

Father stood firm and stared back at him. "Then you'll have a long wait sir! Now get off my land!"

Hopkins stared back at him for a long moment but Father didn't budge and he turned and got back on his horse. "I'll be back!"

Father moved so fast I barely had time to jump back out of the way. He snatched the reins of the witchfinder's horse and glared up at him angrily. "You take care with your threats sir! If you lay a hand on either of my daughters I will make you regret it!" He loosed the reins and gave the horse a slap on the shoulder that sent it off up the track so suddenly that Hopkins was almost unseated.

I stood beside father and we stood and watched until they had turned the corner of the lane and were out of sight.

"Where's Alice?" he asked his eyes on the hedge where the riders had turned off the lane.

"I've no idea!"

"Find her! It's not safe for her to be out alone!"

Well, we searched the farm and the outbuildings but there was no sign of her. We passed the word to her friends in the village but no-one had seen her. Father and mother both sat up all night hoping that she would come home but she never appeared. The next day I checked the stone circle and all the places I thought she might be hiding, even the cellars of The Pale Horse but to no avail. Hopkins sat smugly in the corner of the common room and made it clear that he assumed she had fled the village in fear and I had to admit I thought he was right. Not because she was a witch but because she feared his methods.

We told ourselves that she would come home as soon as he left but, two days later he grew tired of waiting and left and there was still no sign of her. I told father of my suspicion that she might have been meeting a young man at the stones.

"Who?" he asked. "Why didn't you tell me or your mother about this?"

"I don't know! But might she have run away with him? If she knew Hopkins was looking for her?"

Father paused for a moment and I could see that he was trying to convince himself that this was possible. Then he heaved a sad sigh. "I'd like to think so Thomas...at least she might be safe. But I can't believe that she'd leave without a word to us. She would find some way to let us know that she was safe. I'm sure of it."

After a week we began to search the woods and the ditches. Mother wept when she discovered this as she knew that we were looking for a body rather than a living girl.

After six months, when she had still not returned we finally began to accept that we might never know what had happened to her. Mother seemed to withdraw into herself and I once peeped into her room and saw her weeping helplessly in father's arms. Then gradually she seemed to recover and father informed me that I was going to have another brother or sister.

Sitting in my corner of the common room at The Pale Horse I heard several theories as to what had happened to my sister. Some thought that she had fled from Hopkins because she was a witch. This was generally laughed off as a joke. Others assumed she had run away with a lover, or had been picked up by a stray patrol from one of the various armies that still roamed the countryside and carried off by them.

Two months later we had gained passage on a ship for the colonies. Father could no longer bear the pain of not knowing what had happened to Alice, I still caught him late at night, sitting and staring into the fire as if he could find an answer there. I had made a point of carrying out her tasks on the farm to relieve him of the burden but it didn't help. Everything on the farm reminded him of her. We sold the farm and would start again, in a new place with no bad memories.

I have put down the bare bones of my story in a journal and given it to Uncle Nathaniel. He swears that if he ever hears anything he will send word but I know he believes we will never see Alice again in this life.

May the good lord take care of her.


	6. Chapter 6

My fears about the cellars of The Pale Horse proved to be unfounded. The sanguinistas may have been dangerous religious fanatics but the accommodation they designed was very impressive. Olivier informed me that the Authority intended to try running the Inn as a conference centre for vampires.

Bill and I were shown to a large two roomed suite with a sitting room and a bedroom with en-suite bathroom. We had finally got to our room a few hours before dawn and I had climbed into bed exhausted. The vicar had insisted on fetching the leather bound journal of Thomas Compton from the church for Bill and it lay on the bedside table together with a pair of white cotton gloves which Bill had promised faithfully to wear while turning the fragile pages. Apparently it had been discovered a few years ago in a trunk in the attics of the Inn and handed to Mr Venables, as the local antiquarian, for safekeeping.

Bill, however, was more interested at the moment in the pages of transcripts from Ulrich's interrogations.

"You get some sleep sweetheart" he said absently, turning a page. "I'll see you at dusk."

Since I felt that I would rather not know what was detailed in those pages I curled up and rapidly fell asleep.

When I woke he was lying peacefully beside me on his side, one arm curled possessively across my stomach. I stretched carefully, so as not to disturb him, and slipped quietly out of bed. After a quick shower I dressed and headed upstairs in search of food.

The Inn was quiet and I prowled around exploring the public rooms laid out around the main courtyard and even climbed the main staircase to the first floor landing. At that point I realised that Mr Lucas and his secretary would probably have rooms on this floor so I headed back down, reluctant to run into either of them accidentally. Eventually, by following my nose, I found a door which led into the kitchens. I eased it open and peeped inside. A stout, motherly woman was frying bacon with her back to me. I coughed and she looked round.

"Hungry dear?" she asked with a smile. "How about some bacon and eggs?"

"It's three o'clock in the afternoon!" I said, surprised.

"We do all-day breakfasts luv, you'd be amazed at how popular they are these days!" she ran an eye over me, "but I can do you a cream tea if you like?"

"No! No, bacon and eggs sounds lovely!" I said hastily.

"Take a seat in the bar. I'll bring it through for you." She smiled and turned back to the bacon.

The plate, when it arrived, contained not only bacon and eggs but sausages, mushrooms, tomatos and two slices of buttered toast.

"Oh thanks. That looks delicious Mrs...?"

"Cotton, my name's Mrs Cotton. You look like you could do with feeding up dear!"

"How do you come to be here Mrs Cotton?" I asked cutting a slice of sausage.

"Well...I work for the Authority luv. Yes...I know. Sound's weird don't it?" she grinned at me. "You wouldn't think that vampires would have much use for a cook now would you?"

My mouth was full of sausage so I merely raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"There are usually humans with them, politicians, public relations people, guards, companions...like yourself maybe? They all need to be fed!"

I smiled. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I'd never thought of that. Are there many humans staying at the Inn just now?"

"Just Mr Lucas, Mr Hastings and your security men, although the vicar tends to drop in for a bite to eat occasionally. He seems to love the place and I guess he hasn't been able to get in for a while. What with those other vampires living here." She looked down at me expectantly.

"No, I suppose not" I said.

She was obviously expecting more information as she watched me cut bacon and dip it into an egg before she spoke again.

"Your friend now, Mr Compton would that be? He's been sent to try and find Mr Lucas's daughter, is that right?"

I nodded, my mouth full and she heaved a sigh. "Oh I do hope he can do something. That poor man is distracted with worry. He seems convinced that she's still alive but...I don't know. I've heard stories from the vicar about those other vampires who lived here..." she shook her head sadly and bustled off back to the kitchen.

I finished my breakfast and poured myself a cup of coffee from the pot on the sideboard. Everyone we'd met so far seemed convinced that Amanda Lucas was dead and I had to admit, knowing what the sanguinistas were like and how they treated humans, I was inclined to agree with them. I finished my coffee and decided to go out for a short walk. Coming out of the courtyard of the Inn I could see the church on my left and so I headed that way. I had picked up a leaflet in the foyer of the Inn which described the Church of St Peter and St Paul as a Grade 1 listed building dating from the 13th century. The fine gothic proportions reflecting the importance of the wool trade in the area which funded the building.

I wandered around for a while admiring the severe lines of the nave and chancel and the tall gothic stained glass windows. I thought of the journal lying on the bedside table back at the Inn and realised that Thomas Compton would have worshiped here. I imagined him coming to church on Sundays with his parents and the rest of his family and resolved to read the journal myself to try and get an idea of what his life had been like.

I'd had a long night and needed more sleep and so I headed back to the Inn, arriving just as a large black van with the familiar stylized Anubis logo on the side pulled up outside. I slowed down so that I arrived just as the two guards were opening the back doors.

"Afternoon gentlemen" I said in a friendly tone. "Who do we have here then?"

The nearest guard stepped in front of me and held up a hand. "That's close enough miss!" he said harshly.

I held up my hands and took a step back. "Okay, fine..."

Just then Harry appeared from under the archway into the courtyard and saw me.

"Hey you! Get your hands off her!" he called, running over to the van.

"It's okay Harry! I'm fine." I called and he calmed down a little but still made sure he got between me and the guard. "I understand, they're just doing what they're paid to do Harry...protect whoever's in the pod. If that was Bill in there I'd want them to do the same."

Harry glared at the two Anubis guards. "Can I help you gentlemen?" he asked.

The nearest guard bristled visibly at this treatment and glared right back at him. "Would you be Mr Wilkinson?" he asked.

"That's right" answered Harry. "Who have you got for me?"

The guard looked down at the label on the single pod his colleague had unloaded onto a folding trolley. "Says here 'Personal Assistant to Archchancellor Compton'" he read.

"What?" I leaned forward, twisting my head to read the name on the label. 'Sonjia Czapiewski'. Oh great! That was all I needed. I left Harry to sign for Sonjia's delivery or whatever it was he needed to do and stalked off downstairs to our suite. I sat on the edge of the bed and fumed for a while and then decided it was a waste of time and crept back into bed beside Bill. It seemed like only moments later that I woke to feel his fingertips gently brushing down my arm.

"Hello sleepy!" he whispered. He leaned down and inhaled, taking in my scent. "Why do you smell of bacon?"

"Because I discovered that the Authority, bless their little hearts, employ a cook!" I rolled over onto my back and looked up at him. "Furthermore she's a very good cook!"

He smiled. "Excellent! You need to keep your strength up. I could do with some breakfast myself!" He bent his head and trailed his tongue gently over the hollow of my throat.

I closed my eyes and lay back, enjoying the cool touch of his tongue on my hot skin as he worked his way purposefully down my body. I had pulled on a pair of pajama trousers when I had slid into bed beside him and I felt his hand slide under the waistband and ease them down my legs. He began to kiss his way down my stomach murmuring quietly to himself.

"Hmm...I should really be getting up you know" he whispered. "I've got work to do. Are you going to help me?"

"I'd love to..." he'd reached my hips by this point. "But won't your assistant be doing that?"

He didn't react for a moment but continued to work his tongue down the inside of my thigh. I assumed that most of the blood he needed to keep his brain working had relocated elsewhere for the time being. Then something seemed to connect and he suddenly stopped. He looked up at me with a comically puzzled expression.

"What? What assistant?" He raised himself on one elbow. "I didn't know I had an assistant, other than you that is."

"Well you were mistaken! The lovely Sonjia arrived this afternoon."

He looked thoughtful. "Who's Sonjia?" he asked.

I began to feel a little better. "Ulrich's secretary? The redhead?"

Bill thought for a moment then his expression cleared. "Oh her! Yes, I remember."

I began to feel quite a lot better! "So you didn't request an assistant?"

Bill's eyes widened in surprise. "Of course not! Why would I want someone else muscling in? Frankly I think the chances of us finding this poor girl are slim to non-existent, although obviously I'd love to be able to get her back to her poor father. But really, I looked on this "mission" as a chance to spend more time with you!

I smiled down at him. "You'd probably better get up and go and meet her before she decides to come looking for you.

Bill gave a little growl. "She'd better not try!"

There was a slight motion as he raised himself onto his knees between my legs and slipped his hands under my buttocks, raising me up and pushing my legs gently apart. Then his cool mouth closed over me and his eager tongue began to stroke me, first slowly and carefully and then faster until I felt as though I was about to lift off the bed and float away.


	7. Chapter 7

It was quite a while later that we got out of bed and Bill began to dress, looking a little guilty. His phone had rung a few times earlier and he had ignored it but now he picked it up and listened to a voice mail message.

He rolled his eyes at me. "You're right! My assistant requires my presence in the lounge as soon as possible!" he said with a cynical little smile. "You take your time sweetheart, I'll deal with her!" He slipped the phone in his pocket, picked up the transcripts and headed upstairs.

I thought for a moment and then jumped out of bed and began to dress quickly. I decided that I wanted to check up on this. Of course I trusted Bill completely but I didn't trust her in the slightest...

When I reached the main hallway I could hear voices in the lounge and I peeped in to see Sonjia getting up elegantly from a chair on the other side of the room. She didn't see me, mainly because her eyes were fixed on Bill who had put the transcripts down on a long Oak table that ran the length of the room and was standing with his back to me.

"Your...friend is not with you?" she asked.

"Alexandra is in our rooms. Why do you ask?" he answered in that cool dark voice that always ran a shiver down my spine.

"Just curious." she said.

"What exactly are you doing here Ms Capiewzski?" asked Bill.

"Ulrich thought I might be able to help you Archchancellor." Her voice was like syrup with just a trace of an accent which she clearly thought made her sound exotic.

"I see" said Bill. "And what exactly did he expect you to help me with?"

She gave him a sultry smile and tossed her long red hair back. "Why...anything you like Archchancellor!" she purred.

I felt my fingers curling around the door frame in an effort to stop myself from going in there and giving her a slap. That probably wouldn't be a very good idea in the circumstances although I really, really wanted to!

Bill turned to face her and to my surprise he gave her an equally sultry smile in return, beckoned her to him with a crook of his finger and patted the edge of the long Oak refectory table invitingly.

She strolled across the room to him, her hips swaying, and Bill turned to the table, picked up the pile of paperwork and placed it in her hands. "You can take a look through these and see if you can find anything useful that I may have missed. In the meantime Alexandra and I will go and check out the stone circle." He took a business card from his wallet and handed it to her. "If you find anything useful, give me a call." He gave her a brilliant smile and turned and went out of the far doorway into the courtyard.

I leaned against the wall, biting my lip to stop myself from laughing. There was a slap as she dropped the paperwork back onto the table and I took off hurriedly down the corridor before she came out and caught me. My earlier explorations enabled me to slip through a second bar and out into the courtyard from another door. Bill heard me and turned.

"Ah, there you are! How do you fancy a little exploring?" he asked with a smile.

"Why...anything you like Archchancellor!" I purred.

Bill raised an eyebrow at me. "You" he said softly "are a very, very bad girl! Eavesdropping is very naughty you know!"

"But necessary sometimes" I said with a tiny smile.

Bill tried hard to look shocked. "Don't you trust me?"

"Oh sure! I just don't trust her!" I slipped my hand under his arm. "So where are we going?"

"Well, I thought we'd go and take a look at the standing stones. Would you like that?"

"I'd love to." I looked around but there was no sign of Bill's car. "It's a bit of a walk though isn't it?" I asked.

"Oh we won't be walking!" He put an arm around my shoulders and led me out of the courtyard and around to the back of the Inn. There was another, larger cobbled yard with a row of loose boxes down one side. "This used to be a Coaching Inn so naturally it had to have horses on site." he explained. "This is a livery stable which the Authority have taken over. There are still some old fogeys like me who like to ride. I've never asked if you can ride a horse? If you don't like the idea we can take the car..."

"Oh Bill...well, I used to ride when I was younger, but I haven't been on a horse in years!"

"It'll come back to you, you'll see" he said enthusiastically. He was really keen on the idea, I could see that.

"Okay! Let's give it a go!" I said, sounding a lot more confident than I felt.

He smiled down at me and took my hand, just as a little bowlegged man came out of what looked like a tack room.

"Ah! Mr Compton is it?" he asked, with a gap-toothed grin. "Got just the mounts you asked for sir! A nice quiet mare for the lady..."

He hurried off towards a half door on the far side of the yard and a moment later he led out a lovely dapple grey mare. Her pale grey coat shone like moonlight on water and her long mane and tail were a bright silver. He led her over to me with a smile. "I'm sure you'll like her miss, she has a lovely gentle disposition."

"She's beautiful!" I stepped closer to the grey mare and she lowered her head, nuzzling at my shoulder with her velvety soft lips. "What's her name?" I asked.

"Titania" he said patting her shoulder gently.

Bill smiled. "The queen of the fairies. How very appropriate."

There was a clatter of hooves on the cobbles as an enormous black stallion came striding out of the end loose box trailing a rein with a small groom hanging on the end. "And this is Oberon!" he said, handing the reins to Bill with an expression of profound relief.

Oberon jerked his head up trying to tug the rein out of Bill's hand. I could have told him he was onto a loser there! Bill merely reached up and stroked the arch of the glossy black neck as Oberon snorted and stamped impatiently.

I giggled. "Well it could have been worse! It might have been Bottom!"

Bill winced. "I knew I should never have let you get your hands on my collected works of Shakespeare!"

"Oh come on!" I laughed. "I'd read 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' long before I met you!"

Bill helped me up into the saddle and we rode out of the village and into the surrounding fields. Titania's pace was so smooth that I soon began to feel quite comfortable although I noticed Oberon was picking up his feet and dancing sideways skittishly. "He looks a bit of a handful!" I said warily.

Bill reached forward and patted his neck. "I think he wants to go for a run, but he'll just have to wait." He seemed to know what he was doing as he kept Oberon to a tight collected walk alongside me.

"So why exactly are we going to the stones?" I asked. "Not that I'm not interested to see them, but is there some other reason?"

"I'm not sure" answered Bill. "I was reading over those transcripts of the interrogations last night..." his expression darkened suddenly. "It's terrifying what people will say under torture. I've never agreed with it myself, eventually they will tell you anything they think you want to hear, whether it's the truth or not." He glanced over at me. "But there was something. The vampire who introduced Amanda to the nest, her 'boyfriend' if you like. At first he tried to appear just as hard and anti-human as the rest of them but then he changed his story. He said that he realised that bringing Amanda here was a mistake. He had thought that he could simply use her to ingratiate himself with the rest of the nest but then, when he saw her tied up with their other human 'livestock' he changed his mind." Bill's eyes took on that faraway look they sometimes got when he was thinking of the past. "He said that he was sorry he had ever brought her here, for everything he had done...I could understand that."

There was a long pause, then Bill heaved a sigh and continued. "He claimed that he had released her the night before the raid. He had smuggled her out of the back of the Inn and told her to run to the next village. He was afraid if she stayed in Long Compton the others would find her as he assumed there would be a hunt for her when she was missed. But of course there wasn't as the Authority came for them the very next night."

We rode on in silence for a while. "Well that would make sense." I ventured. "Since she wasn't found at the Inn."

"There were about half a dozen humans found alive when the Authority raided the place" said Bill. "They were glamoured of course!"

I shivered. Sometimes I forgot how ruthless the Authority could be. They were there to protect vampires, not humans.

"The rest of the nest simply insisted that all the other humans had been killed and disposed of, including Amanda. So who do you believe?"

"So why are we out here?" I asked again.

"The nearest village is a few miles to the south across the fields, a place called Little Rollright. It's not a difficult walk but the route would have taken her past the stones..."

"They must have searched the area, surely?" I asked.

"Oh yes...but I'd still like to take a look." he turned in the saddle. "I'd like you to take a look."

I thought of the Sabiru which the old Innkeeper had painted. 'The Devil of the Stones'.


	8. Chapter 8

We rode on along the edge of the fields until we came to a single standing stone. The King Stone. It stood in solitary state about twenty yards in from the hedge line. The weathered shape casting strange shadows in the bright moonlight. We walked the horses over towards it. I had read the legend of the stones in a leaflet I had picked up in the foyer of the Inn and had told Bill the story earlier.

"So" said Bill, "this is the king who was turned to stone by the witch?"

"That's the story!" I answered. "He took seven strides away from his men..." I looked over to the roadway. "The Kings Men are in the field on the other side of the road. He must have had a very long stride!"

"Why seven?" asked Bill.

"No idea! But that's the legend. He met the witch over there with his men and she said to him "Seven long strides shalt thou take and if Long Compton thou canst see, King of England thou shalt be!" so he set off, but of course you can't see the village from here because of the rise in the land. It's said that on the seventh stride the land rose up before him blocking his view, and so she turned him, his men and his knights to stone."

"A bit unnecessarily vindictive wouldn't you say?" said Bill.

"Well, that's witches for you I suppose. No one seems to know what he had done to upset her."

"The circle is over here you said?" Bill pointed towards the hedgerow bordering the road. He turned his horse onto a path which had been beaten down in the grass leading to a gap in the hedge and we rode across the road and through a corresponding gap in the hedge on the other side.

The stones were in a corner of a wheatfield which had been left fallow for centuries. There was a small copse of trees surrounding the circle on three sides and the fourth side opened onto the field. Riding out of the trees we stopped as we came to the stones and both dismounted unwilling, for some reason, to ride our horses between the stones.

The King's Men was a circle of limestone blocks of varying sizes about one hundred feet across, each heavily weathered into fantastical shapes. Compared to the size of other standing stones I had seen in the past they didn't appear too impressive to me, the stones at both Stonehenge and Avebury were larger and more impressive, but there was something about these stones that made me uneasy. As I crossed into the circle I could feel the hairs stand up on my neck.

"There's something here Bill! I can feel it. If people have disappeared, it's from here!"

He put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay? Do you want to leave?"

"No, no...I'm fine. Somehow I think I'm okay here..." I shook my head trying to clarify my thoughts. "Whatever's here, it doesn't want me, or perhaps...it doesn't mind me being here..."

"You think it's sentient? Something alive?" he asked curiously. "Can you find it?"

"Perhaps, but not now. I'll have to think about it, this is a bit...sudden!"

I took his arm. "Can we go please? This place worries me, it makes me uncomfortable."

Bill gathered me up into his arms and held me to him for a moment. "Nothing is going to harm you, I promise!"

He took Titania's reins from me and walked both the horses back outside the circle, leading me by the hand as well.

"Come on, let's go and explore shall we?" he said as I raised my foot to the stirrup. I swung myself up into the saddle and asked "Where did you have in mind?"

"Well, according to the maps, about half a mile east of here is a small wood known as William's Copse. I thought it might be worth investigating? Peter says there's a badger's sett in there..." he said temptingly.

"Okay, sounds good to me! Let's go."

Bill leapt up onto Oberon who skittered backwards nervously and then seemed to settle down. He took the lead and headed along a track which skirted the wheatfield. At the edge of the field we came to a bridle path heading east and set off at a brisk trot, Oberon snorting impatiently and pulling at the rein.

"Looks as though he wants to head off this way" said Bill. "Are you okay?"

"Yes" I answered. "Seems it's like riding a bicycle, you don't forget how to do it!"

Bill laughed. "This creature is nothing like a bicycle, believe me!"

He loosened the rein and Oberon took off at a fast canter heading down the moonlit bridle path towards a small wood which was just visible in the distance. A second later Titania took off after him. As I had told Bill, it had been years since I had ridden a horse but the exhilaration of being carried away came rushing back as I tightened my grip on the saddle with my knees and flew after the dark shadow that was Bill and Oberon. I caught up just as Oberon disappeared under the canopy of an avenue of beech trees. The trees appeared to be several hundred years old and overhung the track creating patches of deep shadow and Bill, evidently nervous that Oberon might stumble in the darkness, pulled him back to a walk. We headed deeper into the wood until we came out into a small clearing where the track ended in a steep sandy bank.

I pulled Titania up and pointed at the bank. "Look at those holes Bill" I said softly. "That's a badger's sett!"

He slipped his feet out of the stirrups and jumped down, reaching up to help me dismount. I slid the metal stirrups up the leathers and pulled the straps through them, fixing them higher up on the saddle so that they would not swing against Titania's sides and startle her. Then I sat down in the shadows as Bill took the horses under the trees, tied them loosely to a low bush and left them to graze quietly.

We sat in silence for about ten minutes and then suddenly I saw a black and white striped muzzle appear at one of the entrance holes. I squeezed Bill's hand and received an answering squeeze. We watched, entranced, as the big male came cautiously out, sniffing at the air and peering carefully around in the dusk. When he was satisfied that it was safe he moved away from the entrance and four smaller animals emerged and began to snuffle around in the loose earth. We sat in the shadow of the trees and watched the badgers for about an hour or so. I leaned against Bill, trying to keep as still as possible so as not to frighten them. Bill, of course, was as still and silent as only a vampire could be.

After an hour or so I felt Bill's hand slide around my waist and pull me closer, then his fingers eased under the edge of my T shirt and began to tug it gently out of the waistband of my trousers.

"Stop that!" I whispered. "You'll disturb them!"

"Oh I think they'll survive" he whispered back, his lips nuzzling at my throat, his fingers busy with the button of my jeans.

I tried to wriggle away from him. "No! Bill, someone might see us!"

He took hold of my shoulders and pushed me down onto the dead leaves. There was a panicked scuffle as all the badgers tried to get back into the sett at once.

"Who on earth is going to see us?" he asked in an incredulous tone. "We're miles from the nearest village and it's three o'clock in the morning! Listen! Do you hear anything?"

I lay back and listened for a moment. I heard the metallic chink of the bit as one of the horses moved slightly, a slight snuffling noise as a badger poked his nose back out of the sett. In the distance I heard the soft call of a tawny owl, answered a moment later by another, further away.

"You see! If anything were to approach I would hear..." Bill stopped suddenly and lifted his head listening.

I was just about to ask him what he had heard when I saw a movement in the shadows and a fallow deer stag stepped out into the clearing, followed closely by three smaller hinds. His reddish coat was dappled with white spots which seemed to glow in the moonlight as he turned his head, crowned with a pair of magnificent palmate antlers, towards us suspiciously. He had almost decided that we were harmless when Oberon gave a snort and shook his head, the metal of the bridle ringing in the silence. The deer took off immediately, the stag waiting until his hinds had left before following them through the bushes.

"Oh!" I breathed. "What a shame!"

"He needs to keep his womenfolk safe" whispered Bill into my ear. "Can't blame him for that!"

I didn't have time to say anything else before his lips met mine, setting me on fire, making me feel as though the earth was falling out from under me as his busy hands worked to remove my clothing.

"Mmm...Bill wait..."

He paused and looked down at me. "My, you humans really do have a tendency to puritanism don't you. You've seen where that leads..." he smiled at my exasperated expression. "I know, that's not really you...so relax and let me love you."

He slipped his hand down the front of my jeans, his long delicate fingers probing gently into my soft entrance. It was enough to send my heart rate right off the chart and he knew, he heard it. His mouth moved to my throat instinctively, hearing the pounding of my heart and I could feel the need to taste me, the need to sink his fangs into me, but he didn't. He controlled himself with an effort, pressing his lips to my flesh and curling his fingers inside me.

"Relax darling! I'll know if anyone is nearby!"

His free hand grasped my wrists and pinned them down above my head while he continued to stroke me gently with his other hand, his thumb rubbing over my most sensitive spot with each stroke. I wriggled again trying to pull my hands free but he was ridiculously strong and I knew that there was no way I was going to get free if he didn't want me to. I wasn't entirely comfortable but I stopped struggling and tried to relax as instructed.

Bill stopped and stared down at me for a moment, then removed his hands from me completely.

"What's wrong sweetheart? Did I hurt you?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"No, no I'm fine!"

"You're far from fine! I can feel you remember?" Bill gazed down at me. "I hurt you didn't I?"

"No, no really, it's not that...I'm just not very comfortable with...with you holding me down like that..."

He looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh!... Okay fine, you know I only want to please you sweetheart. I'd never do anything you don't like. Just tell me, okay?"

"It's not important...I wouldn't have mentioned it but..."

Bill shifted from his crouching position and lay down beside me, taking my chin in his hand and turning my head towards him. "It's very important! Well, it is to me anyway! Are you telling me that I've done other things to you that you weren't comfortable with?"

He looked utterly horrified and I hurriedly denied it. "No, no of course not, you'd have known wouldn't you? It's just that when you held my hands above my head it...well, it reminded me of those handcuffs in Darius' bedroom."

Bill's eyes widened and he put his arm around me. "I remember the handcuffs, but I can't really remember much of what happened in that room until I woke up with you."

"You don't remember?" I asked, surprised. "You don't remember that the guard handcuffed me to the wall? You were watching...oh!" I paused. "I suppose that was Lilith..."

Bill was looking even more shocked. "I don't..." his face went still as he thought about it. "I remember something, I wanted her to help you..."

"You...she ripped the handcuffs out of the wall and broke them off me. Was that you? I can't imagine it was something she decided to do herself."

"I think she was just curious...but I may have influenced her a little." Bill looked thoughtful. "I can't really remember clearly... was that it, or is there something else that's upset you?"

I took a deep breath and suddenly all the frustration of the last few weeks came pouring out. "It's just that I know that I'm not enough for you! When Lilith first took over, you were with Berenice and at least two humans, those two blond bimbos, the very first night! That redheaded..." I gritted my teeth "…...Sonjia? she's been eyeing you up for weeks and then there's Lilith. She wants you, she told me so. She's not only a vampire, she's a goddess! How can I possibly compete with that?"


	9. Chapter 9

Bill blinked and stared at me, visibly stunned by this outburst. A tiny red tear appeared in his eye as he gazed sadly at me. "Oh my poor darling. You've been through so much haven't you? I've been so wrapped up in Lilith and the Authority that I haven't been paying attention to what you've had to put up with. Listen sweetheart firstly, Lilith and I had come to a kind of truce by the time she left me but if there is one thing that I will never forgive her for it's the fact that she took my body and used it to betray you like that!"

"I know it wasn't you but..."

Bill put his finger to my lips. "Shhh! Let me finish! Secondly, Sonjia may appear attracted to me but I swear I've never done anything to encourage her and besides, I think you're mistaken anyway. What attracts her is not me, not who I am but my status, my power. I am Lilith's Archchancellor, her counsellor, her companion if you like. Her friend even, possibly the only friend she has. Vampires are attracted to strength, to power. That's what Sonjia sees in me...they all do, don't think I haven't noticed. But you...you are so different. You met me when I was weakened by the silver poisoning, but you still cared for me. Do you think Sonjia would have had the slightest interest in me then? Of course not! And as for Lilith! You can't possibly think I would be interested in her...as a lover! I know her, remember! What did I do as soon as she left me? What was the very first thing I did?"

I stared up at him silently, knowing what he would say.

"I asked you to be my wife! Do you think I would have done that if you weren't enough for me? Believe me you are more than enough for me. There is more to our relationship than that! Much more! You have had to make so many adjustments to your life in order to be with me and I assure you that I am just as capable of adjusting as you are!"

He leaned over and kissed me tenderly. "Now please tell me you haven't intentionally allowed me to hurt you because you thought I required it of you!"

"No, of course not!" I whispered.

"So why didn't you tell me?" he persisted.

"Oh Bill... I didn't tell you for the same reason you've been giving me! Because I only want to please you!"

He smiled. "Oh my poor darling! I'm not some kind of perverted sadist Alex...you don't have to suffer to please me...okay?"

"I know that." I breathed.

He smiled his sexiest smile. "Besides, there's so much I can teach you that doesn't involve the stamina of a vampire!"

I giggled. "You mean like that thing you did with the ice cube?"

"Yes, you enjoyed that...didn't you? He asked, sounding slightly doubtful.

"Yes, of course!" I laughed. "You've never done anything that I didn't like, it's just the whole episode with Lilith...I was really struggling there not to let you know how much she affected me. You had more than enough to deal with at the time. It was just….I felt so helpless! I was just being carried along by events that I was quite unable to affect at all! I knew you were having a hard time with her. I could feel it through the bond but I couldn't do anything to help you, I couldn't even help myself…"

"Oh but you did help me! You helped me tremendously Alex, I really don't believe that I would have survived at all without your strength. And you certainly protected yourself from her."

I stared up at him, totally confused.

"Shall I tell you how I knew? How I could tell that you didn't completely trust what I had become?"

He took my hand and entwined his long fingers with mine. I wanted to tell him that I had trusted him completely but I knew that it wasn't true. I hadn't, not really, but how could he have known? I felt a flood of love pour through the bond into me, breaking down any barriers that might have remained between us and around our entwined fingers I saw a faint flicker of pale blue light. Bill gave a little sigh that might have been relief.

"There, you see!" he leaned over and kissed me gently. "In all the time you were held prisoner in Darius' house you never tried to use your power. When Lilith ordered that you be brought to her, to us, she never saw a trace of it. I think that you used some of it, unconsciously, to help me to drive her back, to control her…" he ran a finger up my arm, trailing a blue haze behind it "…..but in all that time that we were together, Lilith and I, all the times we made love, I never felt your power, never saw this once, and I knew that you didn't want her to know about it. I think that, deep down, you knew that you didn't have the power to drive her out completely and you were afraid that if she found out about it she would try to use you, use your power for her own ends, maybe by threatening me in some way. There was no indication of it whatsoever until that protester tried to kill Harry in the Museum and you saved him. You used your power instinctively then because you had to. There was no other way."

He smiled down at me. "And this is the proof. Now that she has left me, now that you're safe, it's back again!" He lowered his body onto the pile of dead leaves beside me and kissed me.

"We've both been through a traumatic experience sweetheart. It's only natural that we'd be affected by it."

"What, you mean like my unreasonable fear of basements!" I asked. I was trying to make a joke out of it as I felt it was extremely silly but Bill looked back at me perfectly seriously.

"When you've been stripped and beaten and thrown into a basement cell to wait for some vampire to come and choose you and you know they'll very probably kill you, then it's hardly unreasonable now is it?"

He leaned down and began to nuzzle at my throat, his hands working on the fastenings of my jeans, I lifted my hips from the ground and wriggled to help him pull them off me, then slid my leg up and flung it over his hip. He rolled over onto his back, lifting me until I sat astride his hips.

"There...is that better?" he murmured softly.

"Mmm...much better." I set to work on the fastenings of his trousers and eased the zip carefully down over the impressive bulge. His erection leapt out into my hand seemingly of its own accord and I curled my fingers around it, marveling at the contrast between the stiff hardness and the soft velvety skin covering it. I stroked it gently feeling it twitch and harden further in my hand. I looked down at Bill's eyes and felt my muscles clench inside me in anticipation. Still staring down into his eyes I rose up an my knees and began to rub myself against him, coating him with my slippery juices until his stiff shaft slipped inside me almost of its own accord.

His hands moved up to my hips steadying me as I sank down onto him, taking him deep inside me. Then, when he could see that I was comfortable, he began to move me gently, lifting me and letting me fall slowly. After a few moments he gripped my hips tighter and rolled over onto his side. Pulling me down beside him, my legs still wrapped around his thighs.

"You want to please me?" he asked softly. "Let me show you how to please me."

"Sure!" I answered, a little breathlessly. "What do you want me to do?"

He began to move himself gently inside me, just a little. "You feel that, you can feel me inside you?"

"Yes...mmm...oh yes!"

"You can feel the muscles around me? Tighten them, squeeze me!"

"I don't think...I can't..."

"Don't think about it! Just relax and concentrate on what you can feel."

And I could! I could feel exactly where he was and, without even thinking about it, I instinctively tightened the muscles holding him within me. He gave a helpless little moan which seemed to blow every circuit in my body at once. I relaxed and then did it again. His arms tightened around me and he began to murmur encouragement into my ear. After a little trial and error we settled into a rhythm where he pushed in deeply and I squeezed him as he pulled out against the tightening of my muscles and as soon as I released him, he pushed in again until I had driven him to an involuntary shuddering climax. I could feel him trying to hold back, his fingers digging into the leaf mould beside my head, but he couldn't help himself. I felt incredibly powerful as I held him in my arms. I had done this! Sure, it had happened before, obviously, but this time I had done it deliberately. I had made him come by a conscious effort on my part.

I felt his soft lips on my throat. "How could you possible think I was interested in Lilith?" he asked quietly. "You are my goddess Alex... my angel."

I relaxed in his arms. "Is that what happens when..."

"When what?" he asked, sounding amused. "When you come? Yes, that's exactly what happens, except that this was longer and possibly even more intense..."

"Even though I didn't come?" I asked, tentatively.

He lifted his head and looked down at me and the look in his eyes made me feel like the most beautiful creature in the world. "The night is young..." he murmured in his sexiest voice.

Bill had said that if anyone approached he would hear them but, judging by the look in his eyes, Cromwell's New Model Army could have marched through the copse and he wouldn't have noticed. I could hear the faint snuffle of a badger but for all I knew there could have been a circle of woodland animals watching us like some pornographic Disney cartoon and I couldn't have cared less...

Later...much later, after Bill had ensured that I was more satisfied than I had thought possible, we lay in each other's arms looking up at the stars.

"I don't think I've ever told you how much I love your hair" he said suddenly, twining a lock of it around his finger.

I laughed "Don't be silly, it's an out of control disaster, there are leaves in it for heavens sake!"

"It's wild, like you, uncontrollable..."

"Me? Uncontrollable..."

He pulled me closer laughing. "When you came looking for me, did you tell anyone? Did you tell Ulrich?"

"Don't be daft! Of course not. He'd have tried to stop me!"

"Uncontrollable...I rest my case!"

He leaned over and kissed me and I completely forgot any response I might have been going to make to this outrageous suggestion.

Later still I lay back looking up at Bill. I watched his tongue lick a drop of my blood from his lips and marveled at the thought that this seemed perfectly normal to me. He clearly relished my blood, but he was always careful not to take too much.

"I suppose we should be getting back" he said stretching out on the bed of dead leaves. "Whoever William was, I owe him a debt of gratitude...this is a beautiful place." he gave a sigh. "But I have to get you and your uncontrollable hair back to the Inn!" He picked a couple of leaves out of it. "Hmm...you're right!"

I suddenly recalled our mode of transport, grazing peacefully a few yards away.

"Oh Bill! I've got to ride back to the village?"

He stared at me for a moment, obviously puzzled, and then it dawned on him what I meant and he burst out laughing.

"Oh my poor darling! Will you be very uncomfortable? I'm so sorry!" He didn't look in the least bit sorry. His lips wore a little smirk with just a touch of smug.

"You liar! You're not sorry at all!"

"I'll carry you on my lap if you like?"

I eyed Oberon warily. "What, on that monster? Not likely!"

We dressed and rode slowly and carefully, on my part at least, back to the Inn where a sleepy groom was waiting to take the horses back to the stables.


	10. Chapter 10

The next night we were back at the stone circle, but this time we came by car.

Bill had read Thomas Compton's journal in the hours before dawn. He had read out parts of it to me. It spoke of his life in Long Compton over the last two years that he lived in the village. He had apparently witnessed one of the earliest battles of the Civil War just a few miles north of here at Edgehill. He spoke of various aspects of his life on the farm and of helping out at his uncle's Inn The Pale Horse. Of the disruption caused by the war and of the sudden and unexplained disappearance of his sister. It was some time after this event that the family had left for the American Colonies.

We had stopped off at the vicarage to hand back the book and Bill had had a somewhat unsettling conversation with Mr Venables. Bill was always a little wary of men of the cloth, particularly after the Vicar of the church nearest to the Mill House had asserted quite casually that, as a vampire, he had no soul. I was aware that this had upset him deeply and had coloured his attitude to the clergy.

"Did you find the journal interesting Mr Compton?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh certainly!" replied Bill. "I was interested in the detail of his life. I like to read of the the lives of ordinary people in history.

"I quite agree" answered the vicar. "Perhaps you would be kind enough to tell me something of your life before you leave for good?"

Bill's face closed down and I could see he was trying to think of a polite way to refuse. "I'm sure it wouldn't interest you Mr Venables and...it was extremely ordinary until..."

Mr Venables watched him, his eyes bright behind the wire rimmed glasses. "It is not given to us to know the path our lives will take." he said softly.

"Oh I knew that!" said Bill. "At least, I thought I did. I would work the farm which had been my father's and his father's before him. I would care for my wife and my children and when I died I would be buried in the cemetery a few hundred yards from my doorstep and my son would work the farm in his turn."

"But none of this came to pass" said the vicar with a sigh. "Perhaps God has another purpose for you my son. He will make that purpose clear in time."

Bill stiffened visibly at this pronouncement and then gave a little laugh. "Oddly enough you're not the first to say that to me. I was told almost exactly that over a century ago by the priestess of what you would no doubt consider a pagan goddess. That she had a purpose for me, and that purpose would be made clear in time."

"And was it?" he asked calmly.

"Oh yes!"

The expression on Bill's face made it quite clear that he did not intend to elaborate on this and the vicar stood up. "There will be time enough to think about this later. For now you should simply do your best to find Amanda Lucas."

Bill had been unusually silent on the short drive to the stone circle but once he had parked the car and we had passed through the gap in the hedge to the stones he seemed to shake himself and concentrate on the task in hand.

We walked into the circle and looked around, I felt that shiver on my skin again, that feeling you get when you know that someone is watching you. I stood in the centre of the circle and turned around slowly, examining the stones. Some were quite large but some were only a few feet high. I selected a pair of stones about six feet high with a gap between them about three feet wide.

"I think those are the stones in the painting. What do you think?" I turned to Bill who was standing to one side watching me silently.

"You could be right. They look higher in the painting though, remember that Sabiru was almost seven feet tall when he stood upright. I suppose there would have been some weathering since then, and the painting may not be very accurate anyway."

"Well I can't see any other pair that would fit, can you?" I asked.

Bill prowled around the circle moving with the silent grace of a natural predator.

"No...I think you're right." He turned back to me. "So what now?"

I stared at the gap between the two stones until my eyes began to water. There was something...and then I saw it. There were a few bats flitting about in the twilight. I had noticed them as I walked around and I saw one swoop behind the stones. I watched it pass behind one of the standing stones and my eyes moved to follow its flight, but it was late. There was a moment when it should have appeared but didn't. Then it passed across the gap and was immediately on the far side of the opposite stone. In fact there was a fraction of a second when I thought it was on both sides of the stone at the same time!

"This is it!" I whispered, suddenly conscious that we might not be entirely alone in the circle. "This is where the gateway is..."

"It's a portal? Like the one I opened in Chicago. A doorway to the fae realm..."

"Okay, so what do we do now?" I asked.

"You found it...I really have no idea where to go from here" answered Bill, eyeing the gap between the stones warily.

"Well, if this is where she went I guess I need to go in and find her" I said, trying hard to sound confident.

Bill reached out and grasped my hand. "Alex! You can't! You have no idea what might be on the other side!"

I put my hand on the stone and it felt warm to my touch. It might just have absorbed the warmth of the sun during the daytime but somehow I felt that it was more than that. That it was telling me that I'd be welcome.

"I think I'll be okay. We've come this far, I can't just go back to Mr Lucas and say I might know where his daughter is but I was too scared to go after her."

"Then I'm coming with you!" said Bill in a tone which brooked no argument.

I ignored the tone. "Are you crazy? This is faery we're talking about remember? They hate and fear vampires. They're hardly going to let you just stroll in now are they? There's probably some kind of magical sensor that'll trip as soon as you step between the stones."

"You're not going in there alone!" he glared down at me.

"Fine!" I snapped. "Suppose you do come with me? If you get fried on the way in I'll still be alone, and you'll be dead! How will that help, exactly?"

Bill's face took on that stubborn, mulish expression which meant he was going to say something he knew I wouldn't like. "I will not allow you to go in there alone Alex!"

"Now you listen to me Bill Compton! We're not married yet and even when we are you will not tell me what I can and cannot do, is that clear?"

We stood before the stones staring at each other and suddenly Bill's arm shot out and snaked around my waist pulling me to him. It felt like an iron bar, holding me firmly against his hard, muscular body. "I'm sorry Alex but I can't let you do this. I won't."

I wriggled frantically trying to get loose but I knew that I was wasting my time. I tossed my hair back out of my eyes and glared up at him angrily only to be stunned by the blood tears on his pale face. "Please Alex, don't do this." he begged.

"But she might be just beyond those stones Bill! And I might be the only person who can help her!"

"We don't know that!" cried Bill frantically. "Just because we think that vampire was telling the truth doesn't mean that he was. For all we know she could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere! We have no idea what's on the other side of those stones. Please don't make me do this Alex! I can't risk losing you now, not after all we've been through! I don't care if you hate me for it, at least you'll still be here, alive. I won't let you go alone and I'm sure you're right that it wouldn't be safe for me to try it." He looked down at me, the tears showing up black on his pale face in the moonlight and appeared to come to some decision. "If you insist on going then I will come with you...but only because I would rather die than lose you..."

Damn it! He was right! I stopped struggling and relaxed in his arms, feeling a wave of relief wash over me through the blood bond. "Alright. I don't want to go without you either and I can't imagine that you'd survive it somehow."

"A very sensible decision!"

Bill had released me and whipped around, fangs extended, before the speaker had finished.

I looked back at the stones and saw that a haze had appeared between them, covered in swirling colours like a drop of oil on a pool of water. A young woman stood in front of the stone. She was wearing a long linen skirt and a flower patterned blouse but it was the eyes that I recognised. Those wide china blue eyes.

"Aislynn?"

"Hello Alexandra, it's pleasant to see you again."

"You knew we were here?" I asked, putting a hand on Bill's arm. His fangs retracted with an audible click.

"The guardian sensed you" she answered in a matter of fact tone. "Of course that's not unusual, he recognised your fae blood. What is unusual is that he also recognised you Mr Compton!" She turned to Bill and regarded him for a moment with her head on one side. "I have been sent to offer you an invitation, both of you."

Bill glanced at me and then back at Aislynn. "Both of us?" he asked.

She smiled at him. "Do not be afraid Mr Compton. My Queen has sent her assurance that you will not be harmed. Although Alexandra was quite correct, you would not have survived the crossing without her personal intervention!"

I felt for Bill's hand and squeezed it. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

Bill smiled down at me. "Ever since I was turned I have spent a good proportion of my time traveling. I've visited places that I had read about during my human life, places that I never believed I would see. To go somewhere where no vampire has ever gone before? I would love to!"

Aislynn smiled and took my hand. "Come then!"

We stepped forward into the swirling colours. I felt a slight tingle on my skin and then we were on the other side. We stepped out into a marble paved courtyard surrounded by tall pillars and I had just time to glance out at a view of beautiful green countryside with some woods in the distance when I felt a wave of fear and panic pour into me from Bill. I looked around to see him, his back against the standing stone, his face a mask of shock and terror. For a moment I could not imagine what had frightened him and then I realised with horror that it was broad daylight!


	11. Chapter 11

"Bill!" I screamed and flung myself on him trying to cover him, to shield him from the sun, but he held me off.

"Alex, wait!" He held up a shaking hand and examined it in the sunlight. "It's okay, I'm not burning!"

"Do not be afraid for him" said Aislynn calmly, "we are on a different plane, the sunlight here will not harm him."

I stared at her for a long moment, struggling to keep my temper under control. "You didn't think to mention this earlier!" I cried angrily. I was so furious with her I could hardly think straight. "Didn't it even occur to you that it might come as a shock to us!"

She looked faintly surprised. "No, I did not think of it at all!"

I could feel that Bill's initial panic was receding as he realised that the bright sun wasn't harming him and I looked back at him properly for the first time.

He looked different in the sunlight. Everything about him was intensified, clearer, more defined somehow. The angles of his face, the glossy shine of his dark hair, the depth of his eyes. He stood absolutely still, his skin gleaming like an alabaster statue that has suddenly been lit up by a spotlight. Those brilliant eyes reflected the clear blue of the sky and the light showed up a few paler streaks in his glossy, chocolate brown hair.

I gazed at him, drinking in a sight that I had believed I would never see.

After a long moment I turned back to Aislynn. She was now accompanied by two of the creatures that we had seen in Chicago. She gestured at them.

"These are Sabiri" she said. "They serve Queen Mab."

I glanced from one to the other. They both looked almost identical but I thought the one on the right gave me a little smile…..

"The Sabiru that you rescued from captivity told the Queen what you had done for him. Her response astonished the Court I must say!"

Bill raised an eyebrow. "Really, why was that?"

"She showed absolutely no surprise at your actions. She said that she knew you. That her granddaughter had chosen you as her teacher and that she would expect no less of you." She watched Bill with those unnerving china blue eyes. "This is high praise from her, vampire!"

Bill smiled pleasantly at her. "Please, call me Bill."

I thought I saw her mouth twitch slightly. "Very well Bill, She has been aware of your recent….problems."

"Problems?" asked Bill innocently.

"You were possessed by an ancient and powerful spirit, Lilith, the mother of vampires" answered Aislynn calmly. "Had she still lived within you, you would never have been permitted to set foot in this place. But my Queen was pleased with the way you dealt with her. She lent you her strength from time to time and that, together with the love and support of your friend here, was sufficient to enable you to resist her influence. The Queen felt that she was aware of this?"

Aislynn gazed at Bill with a questioning expression. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "She said that I was strong, stronger than I should have been for my age…..it surprised her. But she knew where the strength came from."

"You told her?"

"She lived in my mind Aislynn. It was very difficult to keep anything from her, particularly if she knew to look for it!"

She smiled. "My Queen was pleased with the outcome. Lilith was a dark and dangerous spirit. She would have been a serious threat to us had she become incarnate in that form. By living in you she has…" Aislynn paused for a moment, seeming to cast around for the correct word. "…..evolved. She knew about hate, anger and despair but you have taught her about love and compassion Bill, and for that we are grateful!"

She turned and I saw a beautiful young man approaching with a girl. The young man was blonde and blue eyed and was dressed something like Aislynn in a flowered shirt and wide flowing trousers but the girl was in jeans and a T shirt. I noticed with some consternation that the shirt was stained with blood.

Aislynn held out her hand to the girl. "I think this is who you are looking for?"

Amanda?" I asked. "Are you Amanda Lucas?"

She peered at me with a puzzled expression. "Yes! Who are you?" She put her hand up to her head and, as she brushed back the hair I saw a bloody gash on her forehead. "What happened to me? Where am I? I was walking through the stones when I slipped and fell. I must have hit my head."

The young man smiled at Bill. "I found her lying just by the gateway. I sensed that one of your kind was approaching, attracted by the blood, so I pulled her through."

I frowned, looking at the gash on her forehead. "But shouldn't that have healed by now?"

Amanda looked even more puzzled, "Why should it? It's not been more than a few minutes, has it?" She turned to the young man beside her. "How long was I unconscious?"

"You've been missing for more than six weeks!" said Bill.

She went white with shock. "But how is that possible….."

"Time moves very differently here" said Aislynn. "That is how you perceived the gateway is it not? Because time was different on the other side?"

"Wait a minute!" said Bill, interrupting her sharply. "How much time has passed since we've been here? In our world?"

"In your world over a year would have passed since you crossed into this realm…"

"What!" Bill turned to me, his eyes wide with panic. "We have to get out of here….right now!"

Aislynn put her hand on his arm. "Do not fear. Our Queen would not permit you to be separated from Azaria for so long! She has slowed the difference as much as she can. By the time you return only a few weeks will have passed."

Bill visibly calmed down a little at this information. "But...but still…."

"She has spoken with Azaria and assured her that you are safe. Besides there is someone else she wishes you to meet before you leave. Please, come with me." She led us for a short distance through the trees until we came to a tiny cottage where another beautiful young man appeared, they seemed to be quite common...I caught myself thinking 'I could get to like it here!' Bill took my hand in his and I wondered uneasily if he had guessed what I was thinking.

As we walked towards the young man I noticed a young woman come out of the cottage with a basket and glance over at us before turning back towards what looked suspiciously like gooseberry bushes.

"This is Ciaran" said Aislynn, indicating the young man. "Ciaran, these people are from the mortal plane. They would like to meet your mortal woman." He turned a dazzling smile on us and nodded amiably.

"Alice!" Ciaran called out to the girl and she turned around and saw us. For a moment her face went completely still. Then she dropped the basket and ran towards Bill with a cry of "Father!" She was a few feet away when she stopped suddenly. "No….it couldn't be…." She turned back to Ciaran with a puzzled expression.

Bill was looking equally shocked as she turned back to him. "I'm sorry sir" she said. "But you look so familiar that, for a moment, I thought I knew you, but I know that's not possible, everyone I knew is long dead." She stared at him for a moment longer. "Will you tell me your name sir?"

Bill looked down at her solemnly. "My name is William Thomas Compton" he said.

Her eyes widened and she put both hands up to her mouth as if to stifle a cry. Then she reached out hesitantly and put one hand gently on his chest, as if to confirm to herself that he was really there. He took her hand in his and smiled. "And you are Alice? Alice Compton?"

She gazed up at him with those same bright blue eyes that I knew so well. "Do I know you sir?" she asked. "You are the very image of my dear father, but I know from Ciaran that many hundreds of years have passed in the world outside and that all of my family are dead, and besides, you do not sound like an Englishman!"

Bill laughed. "No I don't do I? I have come here from America, from the colonies. I was born and brought up on a farm in Louisiana but when I was a boy my grandfather told me that his grandfather had told him his ancestors came from England during the Civil War."

"I have no idea what happened to my family…." She said sadly. "And they never had any idea what happened to me….I just disappeared." A tear fell onto her hand and I saw Bill's knuckles whiten as he gripped it a little tighter.

"We found records to suggest that they left some time after you disappeared. The records said that they left to start a new life in the colonies and I suspect that they ended up in Bon Temps, Louisiana" he reached out and brushed a lock of hair from her face. "You look familiar to me too. You remind me of my father's sister. You have her eyes….."

Suddenly she seemed to notice something. Bill had her hand clutched to his chest so perhaps it was the realisation that there was no heartbeat. Whatever the reason she pulled back from him. He dropped her hand instantly and let her go.

"What are you? You're not...human?" she asked hesitantly.

Ciaran came over and took her hand. "He is vampire child, remember I explained to you what they were?"

Alice looked horrified "But...you said they hunted your people almost to extinction! That they were the reason you remain here, hidden away."

Ciaran gave Bill what can only be described as a dirty look. "Aye...well, it seems this one is different. Queen Mab herself has vouched for him. If she didn't trust him he would never have been able to get here at all."

Bill remained absolutely still in that way that only vampires can. "I would never harm any of you, I promise you that Alice. I am very glad to know that you're safe. We really should be leaving. But before I go I have a question for you. Can you tell me what happened? We found your brother's journal but it simply said that you disappeared."

She smiled. "Poor Thomas! He was probably afraid even to write the words. It was very simple but somehow horribly dangerous as well. One day I found a cat lying in the barn, she was just skin and bone but she had one kitten which had survived, a little black one. I have no idea where she came from but she died soon afterwards and I took care of the kitten." She smiled to herself. "He grew up into a big strong cat and kept the farmyard and the house free of mice but then one day a man came to the village. His name was Matthew Hopkins..."

I gasped and Bill turned to me. "You've heard of him?"

"Matthew Hopkins...the witchfinder?"

"Yes, that's him. He was passing through the village and stopped off at the Inn. My Uncle's Inn, The Pale Horse. While he was in the common room someone mentioned to him that I owned a black cat. Fortunately for me a young man I knew was drinking in the common room at the same time and heard him. He slipped out and ran to the farm to warn me. I met him on the road and when he told me what had happened I fled in terror to the stones. I had spent a lot of time there because..." she blushed prettily "...well, Ciaran and I had met once before at the stones and I had gone back there many times hoping that he would return. Well this time, fortunately he did and when I explained what had happened he brought me here."

"But you'd have been in no danger surely...you're not a witch!" Bill sounded surprised.

"Oh come on Bill" I said. "Do you really think that made any difference?"

"We'd all heard the stories" said Alice quietly. "No woman accused by Hopkins survived the tests, whether she was a witch or not..."

We stood in silence contemplating the horror that she had escaped.

"Bill" I tugged at his arm. "We have to leave...the time..."

He seemed to wake up suddenly. "You're right! Aislynn, can you take us back to the stones?"

"Of course!" she said. "Come with me."

Bill turned back to Alice. "Are you...happy here?" he asked. "You can return with us if you wish?"

"It's kind of you to think of me, but no. The world I knew is gone and besides," she glanced at Ciaran with a smile. "I have everything I need here."


	12. Chapter 12

Aislynn led us back to the columned hall where we had arrived and I felt Amanda shrink back at the sight of one of the Sabiru on guard beside the Portal. It looked obvious from this side. The paved area was surrounded by tall columns except for one space where the two standing stones that were two of the King's Men stood, made of grey weathered granite and incongruous among the elegant carved marble columns.

Amanda seemed too frightened to say anything, it appeared that the fact that she was no longer in England and in the company of a vampire had only just occurred to her. Before she could ask any awkward questions Bill put a hand on Aisynn's arm.

"In view of what happened when we arrived and considering the fact that time is passing much faster in our world, might I ask if it's possible to tell what time of day it is on the other side?" he asked politely. "I have no wish to step out into broad daylight again, particularly as the sun there will definitely harm me!"

Aislynn put her hand on one of the stones and closed her eyes. "It is daylight there but sunset is approaching." She put a gentle hand in the small of my back. "Be ready!" she warned. "Now!" she gave me a slight push and I grabbed Amanda with one hand and Bill with the other and stepped forward. I felt that tingly pressure on my skin again and then we were standing in the stone circle. The looming presence of the King's Men all around us in the gathering darkness. I felt Bill's sigh of relief as he relaxed and we turned to look back. The paved courtyard was gone and all we could see between the stones was the hedge which edged the road back to Long Compton.

Amanda was clasping my hand like a drowning man clutching at a straw. "Where was that place and what on earth was that thing?"

"It's okay" I said. "We'll explain everything when we get back to the Inn, but we might have a long walk!"

She glanced over at Bill who was looking surprised. "If my car's been stolen there's going to be trouble" he growled.

"It's been weeks Bill!" I said. "Someone might have moved it."

"I've still got the keys!" he said, patting his pocket. There was a blur and he zipped out through the gap in the hedge to the layby where we'd left the car.

Amanda pulled urgently at my hand. "Quick! While he's gone, we need to get away!" she hissed.

"No, no…..it's okay! He won't hurt you I promise!"

"No! You don't understand! He's taking us back to the Inn, The Pale Horse. They'll kill us, we have to run, now!"

I put my arms around her and held her still. "It's okay, I promise he won't harm you." I murmured in my most soothing tone.

At this point Bill appeared again in the gap in the hedge and came back over to us. He had clearly seen Amanda's panic as he slowed down and stopped a little distance away.

"Amanda, this is William Compton" I gestured to Bill and he came forward a few steps. "He is the Archchancellor of the Vampire Authority and he's been asked to come here to search for you by your father."

She stared at him, her eyes wide with fear. "Daddy sent you?" she asked, sounding suddenly like a frightened little girl.

Bill's lips curled into a little smile. "That's right Miss Lucas. I was sent to find you and bring you back to your father. The Authority have arrested everyone at the Inn and taken it over. You're safe now…."

"I got away" she whispered, almost to herself. "Marcus let me go and I ran, I was taking a short cut across the fields when I came here and I slipped and fell. Then I don't remember much until that young man woke me…..and you were there." She looked up at Bill. "They were going to kill me! I trusted them and they…they….."

"I know." Bill came forward and took her hand. "I'm so very sorry for what happened to you Miss Lucas but you can be assured that no harm will come to you while you're with me. My car is still in the lane and we'll take you back to the Inn where Alex can take a look at that cut on your head."

We climbed into Bill's car and headed back to the village. He parked the car around the back of the Inn and strode into the main lounge bar with Amanda and I bringing up the rear. A short dark vampire was behind the bar polishing glasses. I didn't recognise him.

"I need a phone please!" he called to the barman, turning back to me. "I can't believe the battery's flat, we were only gone half an hour or so!"

"But here we were gone for weeks Bill!"

"But the phone was with me all the time!" he said, sounding puzzled.

"Who knows how it works?" I looked up from Bill's phone to see that the barman had come out from behind the bar and was watching us.

Bill looked up and snapped his fingers imperiously. "Phone?" he asked.

The other vampire's fangs slid out a little. "Who the hell do you think you are? You can't just come in here demanding anything you want! I'll have you know that I've been personally appointed by the Authority to run this place. Your friends don't live here any more mate!"

Bill froze and glared at him, his stance becoming just slightly more predatory and his fangs sliding out. "Who do I think I am? Well I think I'm Archchancellor Compton of the Authority. Lilith's personal counsellor and the man who was sent here directly by the High Council."

The other vampire's mouth fell open. "You're the guy who disappeared? Couple of weeks ago?"

"Well I'm back!" snarled Bill. "Phone!"

The guy was back with a phone almost before Bill had finished speaking! He punched in a number and leaned casually on the Bar, grinning at me.

"Hello? Ulrich? Yes, it's me. I'm back." He winced and held the phone away from his ear for a moment. "Yes, yes Ulrich I know, I'll explain later...yes, Alex is here too and Miss Lucas...fine, how long...okay I'll see you in two hours."

"Pleased to hear from you huh?" I grinned back.

"I think 'relieved' is more the word actually. I gather Lilith's been giving him a hard time..." he turned to Amanda with a smile, "your father left for London when we didn't return. Ulrich will contact him and they'll be here in a couple of hours, now let's get a look at that cut shall we?"

Amanda and I sat down on a couch in the lounge while Bill bullied the little barman into fetching a first aid kit. I cleaned up the cut as best I could and fastened a clean dressing over it. I thought it might need a stitch but I was sure her father would get her medical attention as soon as he arrived. She was tired, a combination of shock and relief, so I found a blanket and draped it over her as she curled up on the couch and fell asleep.

Bill picked me up and carried me over to an armchair, sitting down and cradling me in his lap. "Well that was...interesting" he whispered. "I wonder exactly how long we've been gone?"

"It's been four weeks and three nights."

The voice came from the doorway and Bill and I stood up just as Azaria flung herself at Bill and hugged him tightly.

"At last! I thought you'd never get back!" she said.

"But you knew we were okay?" Bill asked.

"Well yes, eventually, but it was Lilith that was the problem. You've got some explaining to do!"

"She's in England?" asked Bill.

"She's probably on her way here now!" said Azaria. "She knew at once...that something had happened to you. She said that she could feel her children, know where they were, especially you. But one night when we were in New York talking in Ulrich's rooms she suddenly sat up and cried out. We were all shocked, she's usually quite undemonstrative, we'd never heard anything to suggest that she might be concerned about anyone! Ulrich asked her what was wrong and she said that she couldn't feel you any more. That one minute you were there and the next gone...she appeared quite frantic and insisted that we leave for England straight away."

Bill took her hand in his. "You must have been worried too?"

Azaria gazed up at him with those big brown eyes. "I was so frightened Bill, I thought I'd lost you. The flight over from New York seemed to take forever ...Ulrich insisted that we stay at the Authority's headquarters in London and that night Queen Mab appeared in my room. She said that you were in the realm of faery, that you would be gone some time, she didn't know exactly how long but that you'd be back as soon as you could" she grinned at him "so I decided to come here and wait for you."

"Did you tell Lilith what your Grandmother told you?" asked Bill.

Azaria looked a little worried at this question. "Well, I had to Bill. I'm sorry if you didn't want her to know but she was distraught...I had to tell her."

Bill hugged her to him for a moment. "Of course you had to tell her. You did the right thing!"

We sat together in the bar quietly explaining to Azaria what had happened, insofar as we understood it anyway. She at least believed us as she had experience of the Fae herself, what exactly we would say to Amanda's father I had no idea. Just as I was wondering this the door opened and Andrew Lucas burst in closely followed by Ulrich. He stared at us and then looked around, catching sight of Amanda lying fast asleep on the sofa. He stopped dead in his tracks and just gazed at her for a long moment. Then he turned to Bill.

"Thank you Mr Compton" he said. "I don't know how you did it, where she was or how you got her back, I don't even want to know. I'm just grateful to have her back. Since her mother died she's been everything to me..."

Bill smiled, his arm still around Azaria. "I'm glad to have been able to help you Mr Lucas, truly I am."

Lucas crept over to the sofa and put a hand gently on the blanket over Amanda's shoulder.

"Mandy, sweetheart? Are you okay?" he whispered.

She stirred and turned over, opening her eyes. "Daddy?"

We got up quietly and crept out, leaving them together...


	13. Chapter 13

Our room had been left just as it was when we left. I suspected that Ulrich had ordered it. We sneaked downstairs together leaving Ulrich and Azaria to deal with Amanda and her father. I had insisted that I needed a quick shower and that we'd be back shortly to try and explain what had happened and Bill had followed me.

"We can't shower together!" I laughed, trying to push Bill back out of the bathroom. "We have to go back upstairs and explain ourselves!" It was like trying to push a brick wall.

"I'll behave myself...I promise!" he grinned at me.

"No you won't!"

He sighed. "Well...no you're probably right" he admitted. "Okay, you go first."

Bill had just finished his shower and I was wrapped in bathrobe looking for clean clothes when I heard faint singing coming from the bathroom and went to the door to listen. After a moment I recognised it as Bill Hickok from "Calamity Jane!"

"My heart is higher than a hawk. My love is deeper than a well..."

I smiled to myself as the door opened and he came out with a towel wrapped around his hips and another scrubbing at his hair.

"You seem quite pleased with yourself tonight" I said, fishing in a drawer for some clean underwear.

He came up behind me and put his arms around me. "I'm exceedingly pleased with myself!" he murmured, nuzzling at the back of my neck. He reached around and took my ear lobe gently between his teeth. "I feel that I've done something good."

I laughed. "What? Better than teaching a prehistoric goddess how to live in the twentyfirst century you mean?"

"That was different, it was...well, this was more personal. I really didn't think we'd find her alive. Remember, I know better than most what these sanguinistas are like. To actually find her, alive, and return her to her father...well, I feel good about it!"

I leaned back against him, his arms wrapped around my stomach, pulling me back. "And so you should..."

"Well...to be honest, you did most of the work. You actually found the portal...and..." he paused.

I turned my head to look up at him. "What?"

"Well..." He leaned down and his lips found mine, parting them gently with his tongue for a passionate kiss. "Well, I feel that we've...sorted out a few things? When you wanted to go through the portal I was horrified at the thought that I might lose you. But, even though you were mad at me for trying to tell you what to do...you wouldn't leave me."

I looked up into his brilliant eyes. "I'll never leave you Bill. You should know that by now. Even when you're taken away from me I'll always come and get you back..."

"Mmm...that's good to know" he whispered as I wriggled back against him and felt the towel slip off his hips. His lips began to nuzzle at my neck and I felt light kisses move around to the top of my spine and his hands gently tugged at the robe, easing it apart so that his hands could reach my skin. He stepped back and sat down on the edge of the bed. Pulling me backwards and hitching up the robe until I was sitting on his lap, my bare bottom on his thighs. He shifted slightly and his thick hard shaft began to slide over my flesh. I felt muscles deep inside me contract and a familiar warmth began to build up inside me.

"Hmm...you remember what you told me in the woods the other night?" I murmured.

"What?" he whispered, his hand sliding down to my hips and holding me firmly as he moved himself against my flesh, which was by now slick, hot and wet.

"You said I was to tell you what I wanted, what I liked?" I gasped.

He stopped moving. "Don't you like this?"

I began to move my own hips, mimicking his actions, rubbing myself against him. "Yes...yes I love it, please don't stop."

He began to move gently again, reassured that I was okay. "So go ahead...tell me what you want."

I braced my feet on the floor and wriggled against him again. "I want you to fuck me Bill, now...like this..."

I felt his hands tighten on me, either in surprise at a phrase I had never used to him before, or in anticipation of the pleasure to come and then he turned me slightly away from him and lifted me up by the hips, sliding himself up inside me in one long, deep thrust.

I gasped "Oh yes!...yes..."

"Like this?" he whispered.

"Yes...oh yes, like this..." I could barely catch my breath to speak. I felt one of Bill's hands leave my hip and tug at the thin robe, pulling it up so that my bare skin was against his stomach and chest. He began to thrust harder, increasing the pace slowly so that I could tell him to stop if I wished, but I couldn't get enough of him. The muscles in my legs began to spasm and I would have collapsed but Bill's strong hands held me firmly in place as I writhed and trembled in his grasp.

I laid my head back on his shoulder, my damp hair falling down his back. "Oh God Bill...that feels so good!"

His fingers dug into my hip bones and he lifted me higher, his hard, muscular thighs pushing my legs further apart. "Harder?" he murmured into my ear.

By this time I was incapable of anything more than a breathless moan, but Bill took this as agreement and drove into me until I felt that my flesh would tear apart in his arms. I took a gasping breath to beg him to stop but before I could do it my body exploded into helpless convulsions. Bill continued to drive himself into me and, just as I began to recover, I felt him shudder and his fangs found my throat, making me see stars as he drove himself into me fully, his fangs penetrating deep into my throat and drawing a draught of blood which made me lightheaded and dizzy.

I lay back in his arms, my body feeling light and empty as though, if it were not for his grip on me, I might float away. He slid an arm around my hips and held me to him, his thick hardness still buried deep inside me.

"There, you see" he whispered, his lips brushing my ear. "you just need to tell me what you want...I'll follow your instructions to the letter!"

I still wasn't capable of coherent speech so I just turned my head to look at him and his eyes locked on mine.

"Did you enjoy that?" I asked, still panting slightly.

"I always enjoy you, any way I can!" He lifted me as if I were a child and turned me around so that I sat facing him. "I enjoyed that very much as, I think, did you?"

"Mmm...yes" I smiled shyly up at him. "I loved it!"

He leaned forward and rubbed his nose against mine. "I must admit that usually I like to see you face...I like to look into your eyes..."

I laughed. "Really? What do you see in there?" I was joking, but once again Bill was serious.

"Peace" he whispered. "When I look into your eyes I see the peace I've been searching for for so long..."

I looked back at him, feeling that hot prickle of tears behind my eyes. I blinked and felt a tear roll down my cheek. He kissed my cheek and I felt the cool rasp of his tongue as he licked the tear off my skin. "No, no, please...don't cry sweetheart" he breathed. "I love you, I never want to see you cry." His lips brushed mine gently in the lightest, tenderest of kisses and there was an explosion of buzzing as his phone began to leap about on the bedside table.

He put his forehead on my shoulder. "Damn Ulrich!" he growled.

I could feel his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. "Impeccable timing though!" I said. "You've got to give him that! Besides, you're the Archchancellor of the Vampire Authority...you have to expect this sort of thing now!"

"Oh no!" he picked his head up and grinned at me. "I intent to ultilise my talent for delegation. I mean to spend my time with you, not them! I suffered enough of their interminable meetings with Lilith." He stood up and put me down gently on the silk bedcover. "We'd better go and do some explaining."

I hopped off the bed and began to dress hurriedly. "Do you think you'll be able to get away with that?" I asked.

"I plan to start with the honeymoon" he explained, pulling on a pair of grey chinos "We need to decide on somewhere isolated...somewhere with no damn phones!" He grinned at me. "They've managed for the last...what was it? Four weeks and three nights? They can do it again!"

When we got back upstairs we found a new arrival. Mr Venables, the vicar was talking excitedly to Andrew Lucas. He spotted us as we entered and hurried over to me.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you safe Miss Morgan" he said taking my hand and patting it gently. "You too Mr Compton."

I couldn't help but smile at him. I noticed that Mr Lucas had sat down on the sofa next to Amanda, his arm around her shoulders. Somehow I suspected that he wouldn't be letting go of her for quite some time! She smiled shyly at us.

"I owe you an apology Mr Compton" she said quietly. "I...I should have trusted you."

Bill smiled down at her. "Why on earth should you have trusted me? After what you'd been through I'm not in the least surprised that you feared me, it was perfectly natural."

"I was...fond of Marcus" she said haltingly. "I thought he loved me...he did let me go in the end, didn't he?"

Bill knelt on the carpet in front of her and took her hand with a sigh. "I'm going to be brutally honest with you Miss Lucas" he said. "I don't think he ever intended you to get away."

She stared at him, her eyes huge and dark. "You remember what the Fae said? The one who found you at the stones after you'd fallen and hit your head?" He glanced up at the dressing on her forehead. "He said that he sensed one of my kind approaching. He thought it was attracted by the blood, but I don't think so. I don't think there were any other vampires in the area."

"That's right!" Mr Venables commented softly. "There were one or two, but they moved out after the group took over the Inn."

"So the vampire he sensed must have been one of that group" explained Bill. "I think he was hunting you...I think that the reason Marcus released you was so that he and his nest mates could hunt you down..."

There was a shocked silence during which Amanda leaned against her father and put her head on his shoulder. He patted her on the back comfortingly and looked down at Bill who was still kneeling on the floor.

"Thank you Mr Compton. It couldn't have been easy for you to tell us that."

"It's something you need to know if you are to associate with us Mr Lucas, both you and Amanda. We are dangerous creatures, all of us. We are not all monsters but sadly, some of us are."

"Are you going to tell us where you were all that time?" asked Mr Lucas. "Mandy's been very quiet about it" he looked down at his daughter. "Not that I really care much. I have everything I wanted now, but I'm just a little curious."

Bill stood up. "Well, I'll tell you" He glanced at me and gave a small smile. "Why not?" he paused, the smile still on his lips "but you probably won't believe us."

The Vicar leaned forward attentively, his elbows on his knees. "Try me!"

"There's something I need to show you" said Bill. "There are two paintings in this room, which were painted by one of the original Innkeepers. His name was Erasmus Compton and I am now convinced, because of something that happened while we were...away...that he is one of my ancestors. One of the paintings is the old Inn sign, The Pale Horse. It's a fairly standard depiction of Death on his skeletal horse carrying his scythe. The other painting however, is quite different. You called it "The Devil of the Stones" Mr Venables. You told me that old Erasmus Compton believed that he had seen the Devil at the Stone Circle and had painted what he had seen." Bill pointed at the painting. "Take a look Ulrich."


	14. Chapter 14

Ulrich looked puzzled but he got up and walked over to the painting, closely followed by Mr Lucas and Amanda. He peered at it for a moment. "Wait a minute, that's..." he turned to look at Bill.

"You recognise it?"

"I certainly don't recognise it!" said Mr Lucas.

"I do!" said Amanda in a small voice. "I saw one of those creatures" she turned back to us. "I did see it, didn't I?"

Mr Lucas looked down at his daughter in astonishment. "You've seen something like this Mandy? Where?"

"Just where it is in the painting" she explained. "At the Stones."

"So what on earth is it?" asked Lucas.

"Ah, well that's the problem you see. It isn't anything on Earth. At least, not usually" explained Bill with a smile. "It's called a Sabiru and it...they, are the guardians of the realm of Faery."

I could see the disbelief in everyone's eyes at this statement and so, evidently, could Bill. "Don't think of them as fairies" he warned. "They are not tiny little creatures with gossamer wings, not by a long way. Just think of them as creatures like us but with different powers. They are very old and very powerful. Long ago they used to cross to this realm much more frequently than they do now and the came through portals" he turned to Ulrich. "Like the one I opened in Chicago. And there is one at the Stone Circle."

"But how could you know this?" asked Mr Lucas. "How did you know it was there? Did you see this creature, this...Sabiru?"

"No, not then. I'd seen one before though. A vampire in Chicago had one kept prisoner in an underground cell and I released it. Fortunately for me as it turned out." Bill's eyes slid over to me and I gave him a little nod. I knew what he was going to say next. "I said just now that, in the past the Fae came to this realm more often. They would sometimes interbreed with humans and so there are those who have some fae blood." He paused for a moment. "Alex is one. She found the portal."

All eyes suddenly turned to me. Bill could see I was uncomfortable with this and he added "Azaria is another. Her association with the Fae was a great help to us in fact."

He smiled at his fascinated audience. "The rest is very simple. When you fell at the stones Miss Lucas the Sabiru on guard at the portal sensed you and alerted the Fae to your presence. That young man came through the portal and carried you back to the Fae realm to save you from the vampire who was hunting you. When we arrived Alex could sense where the portal was and wanted to go after you."

Bill paused. "The Fae hate and fear vampires" he said. "With good reason. I knew it would be very dangerous for me to enter the portal but I didn't want Alex to go alone. What I didn't know was that, while we were arguing about it the guardian had recognised me as the same vampire who had released his...brother, I don't understand their relationships but he knew that I had shown myself to be friendly towards them and because of this we were allowed to enter."

"But what were you doing all that time?" asked Ulrich. "you knew how important this was to us! Why didn't you come back straight away?"

"We did!" said Bill. "To us it seems that we were only gone for...half an hour or so. Isn't that right?" he turned to Amanda.

"When you told me I'd been missing for six weeks I couldn't believe it!" she said. "I must have been knocked out because I don't remember being carried through the portal, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, probably less."

"Time passes very differently on the other side" explained Bill. "We were fortunate that we had powerful friends in Faery who slowed the difference to a few weeks. We could easily have been gone for years."

Andrew Lucas was sitting on the sofa, his daughter held tight in his arms. "Well, if you say this is true Mandy' then I guess I have to believe it, but all I really care about is having you back!" He smiled down at her. "Come on, lets get you to bed shall we?"

"Before you go, may I do something for you?" asked Bill. "I didn't like to suggest it before as I could see that you were afraid of me and I didn't want to alarm you any further." He knelt down in front of the sofa again. "Will you allow me to heal that cut on your head?"

Amanda smiled at him. "Sure, that would be very kind of you Mr Compton."

Bill carefully removed the dressing and punctured his thumb on a fang, then smeared a drop of his blood over the cut. We watched as it healed up immediately.

"Thank you Mr Compton" said Mr Lucas formally. "Thank you for everything, for finding her, for bringing her back to me and for being honest with me about what happened to her. I'm sure we'll meet again and be able to work together."

He stood up and he and Amanda headed upstairs.

Ulrich stood up as well. "I've some paperwork to attend to. Azaria's been helping me, would you mind?"

She jumped up at once. "No, not at all!"

We watched them leave and turned back to the sole remaining occupant of the room. The vicar.

"How about you Mr Venables?" asked Bill. "Do you believe it?"

The vicar sat in the armchair and considered for a long time. Finally he spoke. "Yes" he said with a sigh. "I believe it."

Bill looked a little surprised at this.

"The fact that I'm a historian doesn't make me completely narrow minded Mr Compton. On the contrary, I've always been open to new ideas. I believe that this world is made the way that God intended it to be. If there is a place where faeries live then it's because God created it that way. Likewise when your kind emerged from the darkness of myths and legends I told myself that your existence must be ordained by God. That He would not permit you to exist if it were not part of His plan. I was prepared to welcome your kind as just another of God's creations..."

"The cult of vampires who took over The Pale Horse must have strained your faith somewhat?" asked Bill quietly.

The vicar gave a little smile. "Yes, I admit it did, for a time at least. But now they are gone, you see. God gives all his creations free will, they may do what they wish with their lives. There has always been evil in this world Mr Compton and there always will be. Studying history only shows this more clearly. Some men are evil and it is up to other men to deal with this, likewise some vampires are evil and it is up to others, such as yourself, to deal with them. Perhaps that is your purpose."

I thought of all Bill had gone through in the last six months or so. His possession by Lilith, his long struggle to control her anger and bitterness towards mankind. He had told me of her plans to make vampires rule this earth. I knew as well as he did that it would never have worked, we humans were far too inventive, particularly when it came to inventing things to kill other creatures. But her plans would have thrown all mankind into an all out war. Thousands would have died on both sides. Bill had prevented that, single handedly, although the vast majority of humans would never know how much they owed him. Could the vicar be right? Was it possible that all Bill had suffered was for this? I knew many other vampires by this time, but I didn't know one that could have done what he had done, or would even have wanted to! He had been right when he said that vampires were attracted to power. Perhaps he was the only one who could have done it, who could have prevented a catastrophic war.

Mr Venables had clearly been considering the details of our story. "So you were prepared to go through this portal to find Miss Lucas, even though you thought it might kill you?" he asked.

Bill laughed. "Please don't misunderstand me Mr Venables. I was not even sure we would find her, I doubt if I would have been prepared to risk my life for her. But Alex….." he looked over at me and smiled. "Well, that's another matter. She intended to go alone and I couldn't allow that!"

The vicar turned his attention to me. "I understand that many vampires have human companions these days" he said. "But I feel that you're different somehow."

I felt Bill stiffen beside me at this. "She is very different!" he said firmly. "She is sufficiently important to me that I intend to make her my wife!"

I gaped at him, surprised that he would tell someone who was almost a complete stranger something that he'd been keeping quiet for so long. The vicar however took this revelation in his stride, simply giving both of us a little smile.

"You've changed your tune a bit haven't you?" I asked Bill. "What happened to keeping it quiet for now?"

"I've changed my mind!" he said boldly. "I want you to put that ring on your finger the moment we get back to our room. I want everyone to know how much I love you." He leaned over and kissed me, much to Mr Venables' amusement.

He sat back looking a little shocked at his own presumption. "What happened here while we were gone?" he asked, seeming to want to change the subject.

Mr Venables smiled. "Well, when it became obvious that you hadn't returned there was a considerable amount of panic amongst your friends in the Authority. They seemed particularly concerned about someone called 'Lilith'?" He paused and looked at Bill quizzically.

"Ah yes...they probably were" said Bill, noncommittally.

There was a pause, during which Mr Venables was obviously hoping for more information, but it appeared that Bill's bout of volubility was now over and nothing further was forthcoming.

"I had a long conversation with Andrew Lucas" said the vicar, eventually realising that Bill wasn't going to satisfy his curiosity about Lilith. "He was very angry with me I'm afraid. He couldn't understand how my idea of a compassionate God fitted with what had happened to his daughter." Mr Venables glanced down at his hands for a moment. "I must admit that my faith was tested too." He looked back up at Bill, into his eyes. "What happened in the Inn was terrible, unforgivable, I don't know if you are aware of the details?"

Bill was silent. I noticed a trace of guilt flash across his face. "Yes, I am well aware of the attitude of these fanatical vampires to humans" he said quietly.

"Mr Lucas had convinced himself that his daughter was alive somewhere but I'm afraid I did not have his faith. I really believed that she was dead." He paused and gazed back into Bill's eyes. "Then you arrived. Oh, I'd had some contact with other members of the Authority, your friend Ulrich for one, but it seemed to me that their concern was not truly genuine. They were more concerned for their image than for Miss Lucas, but you…..you were different. When you told Andrew about the loss of your son, I knew that you would do all you could to find her, although I was afraid that all you would find would be her body. Then you disappeared as well."

He turned to me. "You too Miss Morgan. I must admit that was a dark time for me. Many people tried to tell me that Mr Compton had killed you the same way the other vampires had killed Miss Lucas and then simply fled. I thought that perhaps I had misjudged you completely…but then you both returned with Miss Lucas."

He leaned forward and put a hand on Bill's knee. Bill looked slightly uncomfortable, most humans shy away from touching vampires. "You are a good man Mr Compton" he said. "I'm glad I was right about you."

"Don't fool yourself Mr Venables" he replied harshly. "I've done my share of evil believe me!"

I saw the vicar smile to himself. "You are not an evil man Mr Compton. Evil men don't suffer, they don't care enough to suffer. But I can see in your face the traces of old pain. You carry your suffering around with you as though you still feel the need to be punished."

He glanced over at me and then back to Bill. "Might I make a suggestion? Please feel free to refuse if you have made other plans….."

Bill and I sat in silence, watching him.

"I know there are not many churches in England which would agree to the marriage of a vampire to a human. And I admit I wouldn't be too happy about it myself in any other circumstances, but in this case….. I would be delighted to marry you in my church. Indeed I would be honoured to have a Compton wed here once again."

Well, I had no idea what I'd thought he might suggest, but it wasn't that! I looked across at Bill and I could see that he was equally surprised.

"Let it be the start of a new life for both of you!"

Bill smiled. "That's extraordinarily generous of you Mr Venables. I'd like that very much!" he turned to look at me. "That is, if you're okay with it?"

"Sure!" I said, "we could have a reception at the Inn and then go home to the Mill House?"

"Unless I've managed to wriggle out of Ulrich's endless meetings sufficiently to arrange a honeymoon..." he gave me a little smile, then turned back to the vicar.

"There was one more thing" he said. "Before we left we met someone else who found refuge in Faery... Alice Compton." The vicar looked blank. "Thomas's sister? The one who went missing before they left for the colonies?"

I watched the astonishment cross the vicar's face like a cloud moving across the sun. "Thomas's sister? But she went missing in 1643!"

"Time passes differently there remember" smiled Bill. "To her it's only been a few years, although she knows how much time has passed here. That's why she didn't wish to return."

"Well, that and Ciaran!" I said and smiled to myself.

"She recognised me. In fact, she mistook me for her father." Bill smiled at the memory. "That's why I think that the Comptons from this village were my ancestors, and why I would be honoured to be married in their church. She's safe and happy where she is. I'm only sorry that her family never knew what had happened to her."

The vicar smiled gently at him. "Mr Compton. Her family does know..."


	15. Chapter 15

Bill was as good as his word.

No sooner had we left the vicar than he insisted that I put on the engagement ring he had bought me in New York. The one he had been too afraid to offer to me until he was free of Lilith. By this time, word of our return had spread and Gerry and Susie had arrived. They were both delighted at our news and Susie immediately began planning a major shopping trip.

"Whoa! Hold it!" I said. "It's going to be a small ceremony, here in the village, just friends..."

"You'll never get away with that!" laughed Gerry. "Lilith's High Chancellor's wedding! The whole of the Authority will want to attend."

"I rather doubt if the whole of the Authority will be comfortable in Mr Venables' church. Or even if he would be comfortable with them in his church come to that!" said Bill drily.

Gerry looked completely shocked for a moment. "You're getting married in a church?" His eyes slid over to me and I raised an eyebrow. "Ah, well...of course, that's fine!" he said quickly. "Um...is that the only...I mean..."

"That is the only ceremony we've decided on so far" said Bill in a slightly annoyed tone, giving Gerry the evil eye. I guessed this was something he had meant to talk to me about. Mr Venables' offer had caught us unawares and we hadn't really talked about this at all.

Gerry coughed self consciously and changed the subject. "Have you seen Lilith yet?" he asked Bill. "I understand she was very upset when you disappeared."

"I've had a text from Ulrich" answered Bill with a grin. "He says he's restrained her for as long as he dares but she's on her way!" He looked at everyone very seriously for a moment. "No-one is to mention anything about the wedding until I've had a chance to speak to her alone, is that understood!"

Gerry held up his hands in a warding gesture. "Oh, you've nothing to worry about on that score. No-one else would dare tell her!"

"Now, if you don't mind, Alex and I have some talking to do...in private." He took my hand and led me out of the bar and back downstairs to our rooms. He closed the door and stood with his back to it watching me with a slightly wary expression.

"The only ceremony we've decided on so far?" I asked. "There's some kind of vampire marriage ceremony?"

Bill sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Not as such" he said. "Marriages between vampires tend to be for political reasons, to gain power or position, and are more of a contract for a fixed period, usually a hundred years."

I thought about this for a moment. It seemed a typically cold-blooded attitude to marriage.

"However, there is another type" said Bill "one that is rarely used...it's a binding ceremony. Both parties bind themselves to each other..." he stopped.

He had been about to say "forever". But we both knew that wasn't going to happen...I blinked back hot tears for a moment and pulled myself together. "I would be happy to bind myself to you Mr Compton...if that's what you want?" I asked, suddenly unsure if it was what he wanted.

He stood up and took both my hands in his. "I desire nothing more than to be bound to you Miss Morgan" he murmured huskily. We stared into each others eyes for a moment. "I understand that a Magister can perform the ceremony, shall I ask Olivier if he will perform it for us?"

I looked up into his glittering eyes, full of warmth and love. "Sure! I'd love that..."

He reached forward and pulled me into his arms and just as he did so I felt a warning tingle on my skin. "Bill! Something's..." before I could even get my mind to grasp what I'd felt the wall at the end of the room seemed to blur and a familiar figure walked out.

She was looking very formal in a full length gown which appeared to be white but which flashed with blues and greens when she moved and she had a circlet of glittering ice in her flowing white hair.

Bill bowed politely. "Queen Mab. Good evening!"

She nodded slightly, acknowledging both of us. "Mr Compton, Miss Morgan...I need to speak to you regarding your recent foray into my kingdom."

"Please let me assure you ma'am that we would not have entered your realm uninvited had we not been searching for a lost girl" explained Bill quickly.

"Yes, I am aware of that. Your good intentions were foremost in my mind when I permitted you to enter the portal" she smiled at Bill. "You have performed two great services for us recently Mr Compton."

"Two" asked Bill, looking puzzled. "Aisynn mentioned that you were pleased with the fact that I was able to teach Lilith some...restraint. But what else have I done?"

"You and Lilith between you destroyed the sorcerer Lucilla did you not?" she asked.

"Well...yes, but...oh! Of course. The sabiri?" He thought for a moment. "Are you saying that she was able to get into Faery?"

Mab's face took on a frightening severity. "Indeed she was. And if she could do it then perhaps other mortals might learn how to access our realm as well." She eyed Bill severely. "It would appear that more and more mortals and vampires are learning about us!"

Bill looked a little shifty. "Ah! Yes...well..."

Mab gave a cold little laugh. "Do not fear vampire. There is more than your interference involved here. You at least wished to breach our borders for a good, an unselfish reason. I cannot say the same for others, particularly others of your kind! This is why I need your help."

"My help?" Bill was now completely at sea. "What on earth can I do for you?"

"It seems that our existence is becoming known to mortals and to vampires. Once this information has been revealed it cannot be retrieved. I am not so foolish as to believe that we could remain hidden for ever., particularly since your kind have revealed themselves. Mortals are far more likely to believe in the existence of other supernatural creatures now than they once were."

This was true but I couldn't quite see where she was going with this. Bill was looking equally puzzled.

"For some time now I have realised that I need someone who can represent us in your world. Someone who has our interests at heart and yet is powerful enough to make their opinions matter. I believe that the greatest threat to us will come not from mortals but from vampires and for this reason I had thought that a vampire would suit my purpose. However, how could I expect to find one with the qualities I needed? The only representatives of your kind who have any knowledge of us appear to wish only to feed on us!"

Mab took a step forward and looked straight at Bill.

"Then I was informed that my granddaughter had been found. That she had been taken by one of our greatest enemies, a vampire, I already knew. Now I learned that she had been given to another, the one who had found her and rescued her from her long imprisonment. I determined that I would see this vampire for myself. So I came to your 'trial' and took away her maker. He had done me a great injury and I intended to make him pay for it. My intention was to rescue Azaria from servitude to some other vampire but, to my surprise, she appeared to be happy with you, indeed she chose you and you stood up to me to try and protect her. I was impressed."

Bill bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement of this fact, but wisely said nothing.

"I have observed you closely since then, Mr Compton and continued to be impressed. When you were taken by the ancient spirit I was afraid that I had lost you, but you turned even this situation to your, and our, advantage. This is why I have decided to ask for your assistance."

She looked extremely uncomfortable for a moment. "You must understand Mr Compton that this is something I have never done before, to ask someone for help is not in my nature."

"Your majesty, you have shown me nothing but kindness" said Bill politely. "It would be my pleasure to help you in any way that I can."

She smiled, partly I was sure, with relief. "I have chosen you to be our representative...if you will?"

Bill smiled back. "I would be honoured to be permitted to assist your majesty."

Her smile widened. "Powerful, influential, polite and diplomatic as well. I have chosen wisely!" She moved to a chair beside the dresser and sat down gracefully. "In return I have a gift for you. You are aware that time in our realm moves at a different pace? What you may not know is that it moves differently in different places. I have created a place for you Mr Compton. A retreat from this world, time flows there at the same pace as it does here."

Bill was almost speechless with surprise. "You're giving me a piece of real estate in Faery?" he asked uncertainly.

She laughed happily. "Do not be too excited Mr Compton, it is a small place but very beautiful. There is a cottage there beside a lake and surrounded by woodland. It is very peaceful. After dealing with vampire politics it occurred to me that you might appreciate some peace! I have created a portal which opens on this place from the large fireplace in your hallway. I thought that would be most convenient for you?"

"Ah...yes, thank you. Very convenient!"

A thought occurred to Bill and he sat down suddenly on the edge of the bed. "This place, does it have the same...properties...as the place we found Amanda Lucas?"

"Properties?" she asked, puzzled.

"I could...the sunlight did not harm me..."

"Why no! The sunlight in Faery will not harm you Mr Compton. Do you approve of my gift?"

"To be able to go somewhere where I could walk in the sun?" asked Bill incredulously. "Of course I do. It's my dearest wish!"

She regarded him for a moment with her head on one side. "Do you know that aspect of it had not even occurred to me? But of course, I can see how it would appeal to you."

Bill seemed to be completely lost for words.

"I should be interested to meet with Lilith, if that were possible?" she asked calmly, shocking Bill even further.

"Um...I'll make some enquiries..." he said, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Excellent! In anticipation of your agreement I have brought you a gift" she said with just a slight touch of complacency and I wondered if anyone ever actually refused her requests. Her unnerving gaze turned to me. "In fact it was inspired by you Alexandra!"

"Me?" I was strangely disturbed by this for a moment but then she smiled and stepped towards me. "By this" she explained, reaching out and touching my great grandmother's opal necklace. "You were wearing it at the trial I recall."

I glanced over at Bill, remembering the scuffle that had occurred when Eric had recognised the necklace. "Yes, that's right." I said non-committally, still unsure of her meaning.

She reached forward and placed a fingertip on the large, teardrop shaped opal, closing her eyes. For a moment nothing happened and then I felt the stone becoming warm. The gold setting began to get slightly uncomfortable and I was just about to pull back when she opened her eyes and removed her fingertip.

"There!" she said, with some satisfaction.

"Um...thank you?" I said, puzzled.

She gave me an enigmatic smile and held out her hand to Bill. On her palm lay a heavy gold ring set with another large gem. The jewel had the same opalescent sheen as her eyes. "I assumed that you would prefer this to a necklace?" she asked. "Take it. This will enable you to pass safely through the portal. It will also enable you to contact me. Simply hold the stone in your hand and concentrate and I will come to you."

I reached over and took the ring from Bill's palm and gently placed it on the third finger of his left hand with a smile. He looked down at the ring and smiled back.

"Does this gesture have some kind of significance?" asked Mab curiously.

"Yes... yes it does." said Bill.


	16. Chapter 16

Telling Ulrich that I planned to marry Alex was easy. Preventing him from turning the whole thing into a huge media circus proved to be something else entirely! Eventually after about ten minutes of argument, I lost my temper.

"But can't you see that this would be a magnificent opportunity for us Bill?" he had asked excitedly. "A vampire marrying a human would give us some much needed good publicity!"

I could swear that I actually felt something snap inside me. "Dammit Ulrich! Haven't I done enough for you!" I snarled at him, fangs drawn. "I could have been killed going into that house pretending to be something I'm not! Something I could never be. I wasn't sure that Berenice would even remember me! When she did I thought I was lucky but then...Lilith."

I shuddered at the thought of the possible consequences of Lilith's possession of me. "Can you even imagine what happened to me Ulrich? That would have been worse than death! To have someone, something else take over your body, use it for some purpose that disgusts you? Not to mention the chaos she might have caused. I was entirely alone in that house. You and the Authority abandoned me!"

He looked a little uncomfortable and opened his mouth to say something. "Don't try to deny it!" I snapped. "You told Alex that I was gone…you were planning to firebomb the place, to burn it down, with me inside. The only person who attempted to help me was Alex. Without her I would have been lost completely and I have absolutely no intention of allowing you to turn her wedding into a publicity stunt for the Authority. Do you understand me Ulrich?"

He sighed. "Well, yes alright. I can understand that. But you do appreciate that some of the older members might not really accept a mortal church wedding as valid or binding on you? Especially if they were not present?"

I smiled. "Olivier has agreed to perform a binding ceremony after the church wedding, that should satisfy them. Besides Lilith will be attending. I suspect that having her as a witness should silence any doubts? After all, she outranks the lot of them!"

Ulrich's mouth fell open in surprise. For a moment he couldn't decide which of my two statements had shocked him more.

"A…a binding ceremony! But….that's….unusual, isn't it? I've never heard of one being performed with a human? And….you told Lilith you were going to marry someone else? My God Bill, you've got more guts than I gave you credit for!"

He lowered his voice and glanced around for a moment. "You do appreciate how she feels about you? When she lost contact with you…..when you entered Faery….she was frantic, absolutely distraught! I was afraid we wouldn't be able to control her without you…."

I gave a little sigh. "Yes, I know. But she knows how I feel about Alex, how could she not know Ulrich, she lived within me, she knew what I knew…..felt what I felt. If there is anyone on earth who really knows how I feel about Alex…..it's Lily!"

"And…..she accepted that?" he asked.

I couldn't help laughing. "Not at first no! She hated Alex and did her best to get rid of her, but she soon discovered that Alex isn't easily frightened off and eventually she came to understand that I loved her, and that I always would….."

I thought back to the previous evening when a sleek black car had pulled up outside The Pale Horse and Lilith had stepped out. I had felt her approach and shoo'd Alex downstairs. "I think it's best that I speak with her alone at first….let's just see how she reacts."

She swept into the Inn and paused in the hallway. I felt her mind casting around for mine and then she came into the lounge where I was waiting for her. Diana, whose body she had taken over after she had been killed by the sorcerer Lucilla, had been a slim, dark woman and Lily had taken advantage of her figure to dress in an elegant silk suit and dramatic stiletto heels. Diana's rather nondescript dark hair had been cut into a stylish bob which framed her pale face and fiery red eyes.

She paused just inside the door smiling with relief and then flung herself into my arms. "William! Oh, William. I thought I'd lost you!"

"Azaria told you that I was safe?" I asked, giving her a gentle hug.

"Oh yes, and I felt it when you returned but I had to see you for myself!" she stood back and ran her eyes over me. "You are unharmed?" she asked. "Azaria said you were in the realm of Faery?"

"Yes, I'm fine as you can see. Queen Mab assured us that I would not be harmed."

Her eyes narrowed. "She summoned you?"

"No….we wanted to enter to search for Amanda Lucas. Our presence at the portal was reported to her and she sent a messenger to allow us to enter."

"She knows you William, you have met her before haven't you? It was her power I could sense in you." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I should like to meet this Faery Queen!"

I must have looked surprised as she gave a cold little smile. "You don't like the idea? Don't think I would allow her to take you from me William!"

I gave a little laugh. "Trust me Lily she has no interest in me whatsoever, not in the way you're thinking! She knows me as Azaria's 'father' and, because she trusts me, she would like me to become a kind of diplomatic liaison between her Court and the Vampire Authority. The reason I looked surprised was that she has expressed an interest in meeting you!"

It was her turn to look surprised. "She has? Hmm…..intriguing!"

"Would you be interested in a meeting?" I asked.

She was silent for a moment, thinking. "It could be very interesting. But it would require some preparation, I imagine she would come to us as I very much doubt that she would permit me to enter Faery! We would have to think about security….."

I took her hand and drew her over to a sofa where we sat down. "In the meantime Lily, there's something else I need to talk to you about." I braced myself and said simply "I have asked Alex to be my wife…..and she has agreed. The vicar has offered to marry us in the church here in Long Compton, I believe that this village is where my ancestors came from and I wish to be married here."

I sat back and watched her warily, but I have to admit her response surprised me. She seemed remarkably calm.

"Are you okay with that?" I asked tentatively.

"If you wish to bind yourself to her in some mortal ritual, why should that concern me?" she replied.

"It's more than just an empty ritual Lily" I said quietly. "Besides, I mean to bind myself to her in our ritual as well."

That got a reaction. She sat up suddenly and stared at me, her eyes flickering orange-red. "A vampire binding ceremony? Is there one here who is able to perform such a binding?"

"Olivier Bertrand is the Magister for Europe. He has the authority to perform the ceremony. And he has agreed."

She watched me for a moment in silence and I reached forward and took her hand between mine. "You will always be very dear to me Lily, but you of all people know that what I feel for Alex is quite different."

"Yes" she agreed quietly "I know that."

"I should like you to attend" I said with a smile.

She gave me a mischievous little smile back. "Does Alex know this?" she asked.

"She will accept it if it is my wish." I said firmly.

She sat up straighter and assumed a dignified expression. "Then I would be delighted to attend Mr Compton. Thank you."

And that is how I came to be sitting here before the altar in a Christian Church, for the first time in a century and a half, twitching with a nervousness that I hadn't felt in decades.


	17. Chapter 17

"You have got the ring?" I asked Gerry, who was lounging, totally relaxed, in the pew next to me.

"Yes Bill" he answered patiently "it's in the same pocket it was in the last six times you asked me!"

I stared up at the soaring stained glass window, wondering vaguely what it would look like with the sun shining through it, then I glanced back again over my shoulder to the open door. "Shouldn't she be here by now?" I muttered anxiously. "You don't think she's changed her mind?"

"Oh for heavens sake Bill" hissed Gerry, glancing over at Lilith who was sitting in the front row looking about her with an interested expression. "A vampire goddess couldn't keep her away from you! I very much doubt if she's going to change her mind now!"

"I know, I know….it's just…" I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye and looked round and she was there. Both her parents had died many years ago and so Ulrich had volunteered to give her away. She stood in the open doorway with one hand on his arm and I forgot everything else. The murmur of voices faded away and I could see nothing but her, my angel. Her long black hair was loose the way I loved it and she had a circlet of tiny red and white roses around her brow.

She, Susie and Claudia had been travelling up to Oxford and back over the last few days for fittings at a dressmaker that Claudia had recommended and now I finally saw the results. The dress was sleeveless made of a rich ivory satin, fitted over the bodice and gathered on her right hip in a cluster of silver embroidery and crystals. It fell in soft folds over the opposite hip and was split high up on the other side just beneath the crystal cluster, revealing an underskirt in a deep crimson lace. The skirt was tightly fitted to her hips and halfway down her thighs and then flared out just above her knees to a sweeping tail with a flurry of crimson lace flowing out on one side.

The result, to me at least, was to suggest her perfect ivory skin with her rich sweet blood flowing out from underneath. I caught Mr Venables watching me and clamped my lips shut to try and cover up the involuntary extension of my fangs but I could tell by the tiny smile she gave me that the little minx knew exactly what effect she was having on me.

The ceremony passed in a blur. I could recall the responses from the last time I stood at the altar with a woman. My beloved Caroline. Never for a moment had I imagined that I would do this again. I thought of this church, which was already hundreds of years old when our little church in Bon Temps was built. This church in which generations of my ancestors had been married, christened and probably buried. Then Gerry passed me the ring and I slipped the plain band of gold onto her finger. She smiled up at me and I was lost in the depth of her eyes.

Mr Venables placed her hand in mine and said. "Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. For inasmuch as William and Alexandra have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their love to one another, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a ring, and by joining of hands; I pronounce that they be man and wife together, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. **Amen."**

Alex turned her face up to me and I kissed her gently...

It was an hour later and the wedding party had moved to the large lounge at The Pale Horse. I was struggling to keep Lilith away from the vicar. He had overheard someone mention her name and was extremely curious.

"An unusual name, don't you think?" he asked raising a quizzical eyebrow at me. "I'm quite used to biblical names but in my experience people don't generally call their children after biblical demons?"

I put a hand on his arm and drew him gently to one side. "Let me give you a bit of advice Mr Venables. You've been very kind and generous to me, please don't think that I don't appreciate it but you really should not pursue this line of enquiry." I looked around to see that we were, for the moment, unobserved. "The lady with the red eyes was not named Lilith after a biblical demon. She is named Lilith because she IS a biblical demon." I glanced over to where Lily was talking to Ulrich on the far side of the room. "But don't tell her I said that!"

His mouth dropped open in shock and his eyes followed mine to the far side of the room. "You mean….she's the real Lilith?" he whispered.

"I'm afraid so!" I smiled at him."However, she doesn't much like humans and I would strongly advise that you stay away from her."

"How is it that her existence has remained a secret for all this time?" He asked wonderingly. "Especially from the Church?"

I sighed. "It's a long story…until very recently she existed only as a spirit, but due to a strange set of circumstances she has been incarnated in the body of a vampire."

He regarded me in silence for a moment. "Mr Compton, when you return from your honeymoon I should very much like to talk with you. Your life…..the things you know, the things you've seen…..are fascinating, astonishing! The world I thought I knew is changing so fast…I can hardly keep up!"

I had to laugh. "Mr Venables, I have met numerous men of the church in my time and you are the only one I would consider as a friend. In fact you're the only one I have met with any interest in keeping up!" I'll be happy to answer your questions, but another time?" I held out my hand to him. "Please call me Bill."

He took my hand and shook it vigorously. "Please call me Peter!" he answered with a smile.

I turned to see Alex coming towards me and took a moment to admire her. She came up and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek, much to my disappointment. "Having fun?" she asked. "What were you talking about with the vicar? You were being very secretive."

"He was asking about Lilith" I said softly.

"Does he know what he's letting himself in for?" she asked, sounding horrified.

"He does now!" I slipped an arm around her waist, my fingers brushing the cluster of crystals sewn onto her hip and kissed her properly. "I'm just thinking that we're lucky Mab didn't turn up! How would we have explained that?"

"Oh that could have been a major problem!" I turned to see Azaria and Dan behind us. "I still find her pretty scary myself." she said with a grin.

Dan smiled at us. "Can I be the first to congratulate you Mr Compton" he asked, holding out his hand. I shook it with a smile and he turned to Alex.

"And you Mrs Compton?" Alex took his hand and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you Dan" she said. "We're so glad you could all make it. It was rather short notice."

"You'd have had a job to keep us away!" said Chris, strolling up to his brother with the elegant Claudia on his arm.

I tightened my arm around Alex and lifted her up against me, relishing the touch of her warm body pressed against me. I inhaled slowly, breathing in her scent. I was so hungry for her that I could feel it like a living thing growing inside me, gnawing at me.

"Oh put her down man! There's people dying of thirst here!" I turned to see Gerry and Susie. "I understand.." he said in a confidential tone "...that the Authority have provided several crates of Royalty Blend? But they won't open them until after the binding ceremony..."

I felt a touch of nervousness from Alex through the bond and I hugged her tighter and bent my head close to her ear. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Everything will be fine. It's a very simple ritual. It's the meaning behind it that's important."

Just then a young vampire that I didn't recognise came up and bowed his head slightly. "Mr Compton? Monsieur Bertrand is ready for you in the small drawing room."

I smiled down at Alex reassuringly. "Ready?"

She squeezed my hand and we moved slowly through the crowd of mixed human and vampire guests towards the door to the drawing room. The small room had been emptied of furniture and Olivier stood at the far side. He was wearing a long white linen robe with a white skullcap on his wavy dark hair. Over the top of the robe was a long strip of crimson silk draped around his neck with the two ends hanging down the front of his robe like a priest's stole. He smiled at us and held out his hands in a welcoming gesture.

We stood before him and he looked behind us and beckoned to the assembled crowd to come in behind us.

"Welcome!" he said with a smile. "Please join us as witnesses to this ancient and hallowed ritual."

He turned his eyes on us and said seriously. "Mr Compton...Miss Morgan, you have requested that a binding ceremony be performed upon you. I have to know that you understand the meaning of this ritual. A normal vampire marriage will be for a set term of years. The binding has no such term. Once you are bound together only the True Death may separate you. You understand this?"

"Yes I understand" I replied firmly. I desired nothing more...

"I understand" replied Alex.

Olivier's dark eyes turned to me. "William Thomas Compton, is it your wish to be bound to this woman?"

"It is!"

"Alexandra Morgan, is it your wish to be bound to this man?"

"It is!"

Olivier smiled encouragingly at Alex. "Alexandra, you must offer your blood to William."

She took a deep breath and offered me her arm. I took her wrist in my hand, it was so tiny and fragile for a moment I was afraid it would break in my hand. I looked down into her trusting grey eyes and felt my fangs slide out. Raising her wrist to my lips I bit into her flesh as gently as I could and pulled back. I heard her voice, as if from very far away saying "William, I offer you my blood". I stared, mesmerised by the two puncture wounds with the blood welling up from them.

"William." Olivier's voice brought me back to the present. "You must offer your blood to Alexandra."

I raised my own wrist to my mouth and bit down into it. The dark blood flowed sluggishly from the two punctures as I said "Alexandra, I offer you my blood."

Olivier reached forward and took our wrists, placing hers over mine so that the little wounds were pressed against each other and our blood ran together across our joined flesh. He wrapped the long crimson ribbon around our wrists, fastening it loosely, the two ends trailing to the floor.

He paused for a moment and then turned to Alex. "Alexandra, your blood is William's. William, your blood is Alexandra's. From this night forward you are bound to each other." He bowed his head. "Blessed be the blood!"

There was an answering murmur from the assembled vampires "Blessed be the blood!"


	18. Chapter 18

After the ritual was completed everyone seemed to scatter through the various rooms in the ground floor of the Inn but most of the vampires seemed to congregate in the main lounge where, as Gerry had predicted, there were two crates containing a dozen bottles of Royalty Blend. I held a glass in my right hand, my left wrist being still bound to Alex's right. She had a harder time, having to hold her drink in her left hand.

"How long do we have to stay bound together like this?" she whispered.

The temptation was almost too much for me but I forced myself to be honest with her. "Well...really we don't. It's just tradition, but it's fun, don't you think?" I leaned down to whisper into her ear. "Unless you're not into bondage of course..."

She giggled but didn't seem horrified by the idea, rather to my relief. I had been a little concerned that her experience with Darius' handcuffs might have scarred her more seriously than I had imagined. I nibbled gently at her ear lobe and whispered. "The binding ribbon might prove to be useful later? What do you think?"

She looked up at me shyly and gave me a wicked little smile. "Hmm...it doesn't seem that tough...I guess I could cope."

For a moment it was though an electric shock had passed through my body. I felt the hunger inside me wake again like a living thing and stretch itself causing an uncomfortable pressure in the pale grey trousers of the elegant suit I was wearing. I looked around the crowded room, full of our friends and fervently wished that they would all leave so that Alex and I could be alone together. I blinked and pulled myself together firmly. This would not do, some of these people had come a long way at very short notice to be here for us!

I kissed Alex gently on the cheek, not trusting myself with her lips. "Come on, we should circulate!"

We wandered around chatting to the guests, our initial awkwardness at being bound together causing much amusement. However we quickly became accustomed to the ribbon around our wrists and after a while we hardly noticed it. Somehow this didn't seem at all strange to me, having Alex bound to my arm seemed only right and natural.

Eventually our guests, at least the vampire contingent, appeared to realise that there were only a few hours left before dawn and that we might like some time to ourselves before the sun drove me into sleep. They began to encourage us to leave for our basement suite where we were to spend the day before leaving for our highly secret honeymoon destination. I should probably have exhibited a polite reluctance to leave but I felt it would have been hypocritical of me as I was sure that everyone could see that we could barely wait to be alone together!

I opened the door to our suite and practically dragged Alex inside with me. Closing the door I leant back against it and pulled her into my arms. Hampered only slightly by the ribbon around my wrist I kissed her urgently. She melted into my arms her lips parting invitingly as I clutched her body desperately to mine. My free hand slid down to the cluster of crystal on her hip and then ventured lower into the crimson lace.

She pulled back from me suddenly "I'm warning you now Bill Compton. If you dare damage this dress there's going to be serious trouble!"

"Fine" I breathed. "It's far too beautiful to tear, how do I get it off you?"

She turned awkwardly, the ribbon obstructing her movement and I reached for the zipper that ran down the back of the dress, easing it gently down along her spine and over the swell of her buttocks. She reached up and slipped the dress off her shoulders, stepping out of it and standing before me in an ivory lace bra and panties with a pale blue garter around one slim thigh. I eyed it curiously.

"Well you know the old rhyme? Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?" She lifted her foot and placed it on my knee, displaying the garter for closer examination. "The necklace is old, the dress is new and the garter is blue."

I licked my lips, "So what did you borrow?"

She looked down at the ivory silk shoe resting on my knee. "Well believe it or not I had to borrow these from Susie. I simply couldn't find anything suitable and these were a perfect match for the dress." She grinned up at me. "There's a ball of cotton wool in the toe. They're half a size too big!"

I laughed and reached down for her tiny foot, slipping off the shoe. "We'd better be careful with them then!" I reached for her wrist and began to unwind the ribbon and once her hand was free she placed it on my shoulder and reached down to remove the other shoe. I stepped forwards, backing her towards the bed and tossed the ribbon onto the pillows. "I want you so much" I murmured, pulling her close again and burying my face in her hair.

"I'm right here" she whispered, pushing the jacket off my shoulders and reaching down to stroke the growing bulge in my pants. "You can have me..."

I gasped and wriggled out of the jacket, fastening my mouth on hers and pushing her backwards so that she fell back onto the bed. I reached down and tore the front of the bra apart, pushing it aside so that her breasts were in my cupped hands. My mouth seemed to pull away from hers of its own accord and lock on to her nipple, teasing it with my tongue as I stroked the other gently with my fingers. I felt her hands slide down the side of my pants and push them down over my hips as I realised she must have unfastened the zip while we were kissing and I hadn't even noticed.

I released her and stood up with an effort, getting a grip on myself as I rapidly stripped my clothes off and lifted her onto the bed properly. I crouched over her looking down at her pale ivory flesh, the torn bra hanging in two lacy pieces. She wriggled her arms out of the straps and tossed it aside, reaching up for me. I wanted to take this slowly, to make it last for her on this special night but the ache between my legs was becoming an agony and I knew I couldn't hold back much longer.

She evidently felt this too as she spread her legs under me and ran a hand down my back, pressing on my buttocks to push me closer to her. I slid a hand down between us and ripped away the flimsy scrap of silk and lace which was all that separated us, easing the head of my hard shaft into her warm entrance. She gave a little moan and pushed her hips up, sliding her tight slick flesh over me and as I felt her muscles tighten and squirm around me I realised with a surge of pleasure that she was just as hungry for me as I was for her. By now my excitement had reached such a pitch that I managed a mere five or six long thrusts before I exploded inside her with an incoherent cry of ecstasy.

I lay with my head resting on her shoulder feeling myself still pulsing inside her. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry sweetheart..." I stopped as I felt the hot velvety skin of her inner thighs sliding up over my hips as she locked her ankles just above my buttocks.

"Well you're going to have to do better than that Mr Compton!" she whispered, her hot little tongue sliding into my ear and tracing around the edge of it. I slid a hand under the small of her back and lifted her up against my stomach, feeling myself already hardening again within that beautiful, warm channel, that perfect place that was mine alone.

"Whatever you say sweetheart, whatever you say!" I got up onto my knees, lifting her with me and moved slightly up the bed toward the old fashioned wrought iron headboard, reaching across to pick up the silk ribbon and slipping it behind the metal struts. Before she could react I had whipped the ribbon around her wrists and tied it off. I lowered her onto the silk sheet and slipped myself out of her with a sigh. She whimpered slightly and tried to wriggle against me but I was pleased to see that the scarlet ribbon, although only about an inch or two wide, held her firmly in place.

"Better than that huh?" I murmured looking down at her naked body spread out on the sheet beneath me. "Oh my dear...you are going to be so sorry you said that!"

It was nearly an hour later that I finally entered her again. Her body was slick with sweat and she was writhing against the silk sheets begging incoherently to be fucked. I had crawled up her body, kissing every inch of her skin, stroking and licking at her hot flesh until I myself could bear it no longer. She was unable to touch me as the ribbon had held firm despite her vigorous efforts to break free and I knelt astride her hips, teasing her remorselessly, rubbing my rock hard member against her stomach until she screamed with frustration. I wasn't sure how good the sound insulation was at the Inn and I considered gagging her for a moment but there really wasn't anything suitable available, unless...I looked down at myself for a moment. No! That would be going too far! I had no wish to really scare her. I leaned back and lifted her hips up off the bed.

"Please Bill...oh please...now..." she muttered. I held her up with one hand under her bottom and reached down between my legs with my other hand. Pushing her legs further apart with my knees I began rubbing myself over her slippery wet folds.

"Yes! Oh please..." she gasped and I relented at last and slid myself deep inside her with a swift movement of my hips. She gave a moan and threw her head back as I lowered her body into the sheets and reached up to unfasten the ribbon. Her legs locked around my hips and I began to move inside her in long slow strokes until she slid her freed hands down my back and dug her fingers into my buttocks. Now that she was free I rolled over onto my back holding her on top of me and held her by the hips as she struggled to get her knees under her and braced against the mattress.

I smiled up at her. "Is that better?" I asked.

In reply she leaned back and began to rock herself on top of me, her magnificent breasts gleaming with sweat in the dim light. I saw her bite at her lip to try and stifle her moans as she moved faster and I concentrated on her intensely, waiting for the moment when she was too close to climax to stop. At that very moment I grasped her by the hips and pulled her down onto my chest thrusting myself into her hard and biting down into her throat at the same time. As her hot blood spilled over my lips I felt her powerful orgasm drag me over the edge with her into darkness.


	19. Chapter 19

I woke the next evening feeling sleepy, and so warm and comfortable that I really didn't want to move. The room was lit by a dim lamp on the far side of the bed and I was lying tucked up next to my new husband with a sheet drawn up over us. Bill was still sleeping and a glance at the clock told me it was about an hour before dusk. Just time for me to have a quick shower and get something to eat before he rose. I had a strong suspicion that I wouldn't get much chance afterwards! I pushed the sheet down and smiled to myself. The scarlet silk ribbon lay draped across our naked bodies like a trail of blood and one end was wrapped around Bill's wrist and clutched tightly in his hand. He obviously wasn't planning on letting me go any time soon…..

As I looked down at him I had an idea. I carefully picked up the other end of the ribbon and carefully slipped it between his legs. After a few seconds I giggled to myself and slipped out from under his arm without disturbing him and sneaked quietly into the bathroom. After a quick wash I pulled on some clothes and headed upstairs in search of Mrs Cotton and her amazing all day breakfasts.

When I returned Bill was just stirring and I sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled down at him.

"Good evening Mrs Compton" he said with a smile. "Don't I get a kiss?" He reached up for me and I saw the ribbon around his wrist tighten slightly.

"Well…..I was rather looking forward to that present you have for me" I said hopefully.

"Present? he asked, puzzled. His arm reached further in my direction and the ribbon tightened with a slight jerk.

"Ow! What the…?" he pulled back the sheet and looked down at himself. I watched his lips twitch as he struggled not to laugh.

"Why you wicked little…so that's the present that you want is it?"

I had moved back slightly, intending to jump back off the bed but, as usual, he was too fast for me. I gave a squeak and found myself flat on my back on the bed, Bill crouched over me. "If this is what you want sweetheart, then this is what you shall have!" he said with a distinctly predatory grin. "Ouch!..." he reached between his legs and struggled with the ribbon while I laughed uncontrollably.

"It's not my fault!" I gasped, trying to look innocent and failing miserably. "It wasn't anything like that size when I tied it on!

"Not your fault! Sweetheart, I can assure you that this..." he gestured at the newly decorated item between his thighs which was, indeed, swelling as I watched "...is entirely your fault!"

"Here..." I giggled. "Let me help you with that." I reached for him and pulled gently at the end of the ribbon, causing the carefully tied knot to unravel, the tips of my fingers brushed against his velvety soft skin and he hissed, his fangs sliding out at the contact.

"I guess I asked for that after what I did to you last night" he murmured as I slipped the ribbon gently off his, by now fully erect, member.

"You certainly did. I've married a monster! You tied me up and tortured me you...you animal!...and I loved every minute of it!" I whispered the last phrase into his ear and he laughed happily and rolled me over onto my stomach.

"You are a very bad girl!" I felt his hand at the waistband of my thin cotton trousers and I just had time to protest weakly before he had ripped them off me with one swift pull and pushed his erection between my buttocks. I squealed with surprise and wriggled myself into a more comfortable position as he pressed himself carefully into me, tugging off my shirt and bra with one hand and using the other to hold me down. I shuddered with pleasure as he began to work himself deeper inside me.

"What are you?" he whispered, pulling me up onto my knees and continuing to drive himself into me.

"Oh Bill...that feels so good..."

"Answer me!" he hissed in my ear.

"I'm a...I'm a very bad girl! Whatever you say...just don't stop..."

So he didn't...in a remarkable short time I felt something mounting deep inside me, a tingling kind of excitement. A desperate, aching need swept through me, a tingling tightness in the deepest parts of me, an emptiness that longed for him. And he filled it, over and over again...

Afterwards I lay panting in his arms and gazing ruefully at my shredded underwear. "You're responsible for me now remember?" I said breathlessly. "If you're going to carry on like this I'm going to have to insist that you provide me with a knicker allowance!"

"Whatever you say dear" answered Bill drowsily. "I'm sure it'll be worth every penny!"

a little while later we had roused ourselves and left the Inn. A crowd of friends had stood in the courtyard to wave us off and now we stood in the hallway of the Mill House before the great open fireplace, our bags on the floor at our feet. Bill looked at me. "Well Mrs Compton, are you ready?"

We had been very reticent about our honeymoon despite many questions, but the reason was that we really couldn't tell anyone anything about it. We were not actually going very far at all and yet, in some way, we would be travelling an unimaginable distance.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked doubtfully, fingering the great opal ring on his hand. "Wouldn't you prefer a luxury hotel somewhere?"

"Are you kidding?" I answered. "I've spent the last few months of my life living in luxury hotels! I just want to be alone with you for a while."

"Let's see if this works then!" he said firmly, picking up the bags. He slung mine over his shoulder and picked up the other in one hand, Taking my hand in his he stepped forward purposefully into the Inglenook fireplace. I stepped forward beside him, half convinced that we would end up bumping our noses on the rear wall but that didn't happen. I felt that tingle on my skin, like a mild electric shock and suddenly we were looking out on a green meadow with woods in the distance. It was dark and the moon was up so it appeared that Mab's assurance that the time would be the same on both sides of this portal was right.

I looked around to see that we appeared to have walked out of solid rock. There was a cliff behind us and I was amused to see that there was an elaborate archway carved onto the rock face, although there was no opening. It seemed that Mab was taking no chances that we might not be able to find our way back again. Having a vampire trapped in Faery was clearly not part of her plan! There were two carved pillars, similar to those we had seen on the other side of the portal at the stone circle, with an arch over the top and the interior had been carved with a pattern of leaves. As I looked at it I was reminded of something.

"They've forgotten to carve "Speak Friend and Enter!" over the top. I said.

Bill looked puzzled for a moment.

"Oh please! Don't tell me I've inadvertently bound myself to a man who's never read The Lord of the Rings!" I exclaimed, with mock horror.

His expression cleared at once. "Oh of course! The entrance to the Mines of Moria!" he said. "Better not try and open it then! Although….." he looked down the slight slope to the right of our position "…..it appears that there is, in fact, a lake. Let's hope it's not occupied!"

I looked down to see a sheet of silver as the moonlight fell on the surface of a long lake, there was some kind of disturbance on the far side and I became aware of a faint roaring noise in the distance. I saw that the cliff curved away from us for a distance of about half a mile and I could just make out a glittering waterfall pouring down into the far side of the lake.

I shivered and stepped closer to Bill.

"I was only joking sweetheart!" he said, putting an arm around my shoulders. "I'm sure Mab would never have invited us to come here if it was dangerous. Besides, she's probably warned everyone that I can access this place. I expect any Fae will have run a mile at the thought that a vampire might be around!"

I stared down at the lake, still feeling slightly uncomfortable. "I'm not so sure. I can sense something…in that direction." I pointed down to the lake."

Bill stared down at the lake for a moment. "Well, perhaps there are some still around, maybe they think I won't find them in the water?" He smiled down at me. "Don't worry, I'll keep a sharp lookout. Anything that tries to harm you, my precious, is going to regret it!"

He picked up the bags and took my hand. "Come on! Let's find this cottage."

We walked down the slope and around a curve in the cliff and an astonishing sight met our eyes. It was a tiny thatched cottage. It appeared to be built from rough hewn stones and looked, for all the world, like an old English cottage except for one thing. Instead of the thatch being brown and dead, it was a rich green and clearly alive. When we got closer I could see roots trailing down the walls and into the earth.

"It's not made of gingerbread is it?" I asked warily.

Bill laughed. "Why do I get the impression that you're not taking this seriously?"

"Sorry" I murmured "but you must admit this is a little bizarre!"

By this time we had reached the cottage and Bill put out a hand and patted the wall. "Nope, not sticky enough to be gingerbread! Feels like stone to me."

We walked around the side of the cottage to the front door which was standing half open. Bill pushed it open and stepped inside ahead of me, dropping the bags on the threshold and peering around into the darkness. He turned back to me and smiled.

"Looks safe enough, come on." He reached for me and lifted me over the threshold into the cottage.

I couldn't help laughing. "Look, you don't have to do that every time you know!" I said.

"I don't?" he asked, looking disappointed. "But I want to! I like it….." He smiled down at me with a glint in his eye which made a little shiver run down my spine. He set me down gently on the flagstones which covered the floor and brought in the bags. There were niches in the walls containing candles and a fireplace with a fire laid ready and a pile of fur rugs before it. While Bill lit the candles and the fire I spotted a doorway to the rear of the room and I took a candle and went to explore.

The room which was revealed when I held up the candle was, I supposed, a bedroom of sorts. There was a space directly inside the doorway but the rear of the small room was an alcove containing a wide platform about three feet high and piled with thick, soft furs. I went back out into the main room and looked around in the growing light of the fire, realising for the first time that there was very little in the way of furniture. Just a wooden table and a couch consisting of a broad shelf along one wall covered with more furs. The whole place had a organic feel to it. As though the cottage had not been built, but somehow grown.

Still it was warm and comfortable and Bill was sitting on the fur covered couch smiling at me. He beckoned to me to join him and I sat beside him his hand in mine. "Well?" he asked. "What do you think? It's not much at the moment but we can improve it if you like it?"

"It's small and cosy and you're here...it's already got all I want!" I leaned into him and he bent to kiss me, his lips soft but firm against mine, his tongue expertly darting over the crevices of my mouth. Before the kiss could become too passionate he pulled back and looked down at me.

"It must be nearly dawn." he said quietly.

"Do you feel it?" I asked.

"No" he answered "I feel nothing."

Unsure if this was a good sign or not I turned my head to look up at him. He was looking distinctly uneasy. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He stood up, his expression determined. "Mab assured us that the sunlight here wouldn't harm me. I was fine the last time...I have to trust her." He held out a hand to me. "Will you come with me? Hold my hand?"

"Of course!" I got up and smiled at him. "Come on." I took his outstretched hand and we went to the doorway and sat down on the shallow step. The eastern sky was just lightening and Bill put his arm around me and hugged me tightly. We sat in silence and watched as the sky rapidly grew lighter. Bill's hand tightened nervously on my shoulder as the edge of the sun eased up over the horizon, flooding the view with a soft golden light. It rushed towards us chasing away the long shadows and I watched, holding my breath as the light swept up over Bill's feet and poured over us. I felt him tense in instinctive panic but nothing happened and the remaining darkness fled away to the bottom of the cliff behind us.

I heard a faint sound and turned to look at Bill. His pale cheeks were marred by two streaks of blood and I realised that he was weeping silently.

"Bill? Are you okay?" He nodded, unable to speak.

I had felt his emotions pouring into me through the blood bond. At first, fear, then relief and finally a relaxed peace. I felt him pull himself together and turn to me, his face still streaked with bloody tears.

"A hundred and fifty years!" he murmured. "For a hundred and fifty years I have dreamed of seeing the sunrise again. When I was...before I was turned, I used to love to watch the sun come up. Everything seemed bright and newly made, a fresh new day full of promise" he gave me a smile, his eyes brimming with fresh tears "I've missed it so much! I had convinced myself that I would never see this again, forced myself to accept it, but in my dreams..." he turned his face away and I saw his shoulders shaking with sobs.

"Oh Bill! Darling! Please don't cry..." I put my arms around his shoulders and hugged him.

"I don't even know why I am!" he gasped. "This is one of the best things that's happened to me since I met you..." he turned and laid his head on my shoulder with a sigh. He turned his head slightly and I felt his lips brush against my neck. "I'm sorry darling, I don't know what..."

"It's all right...I understand." I sat holding him, rocking him in my arms like a child until gradually the tension leached out of his body and I felt him relax.


	20. Chapter 20

We sat silently watching as the bright disc of the sun lifted itself fully over the horizon. Then Bill turned to me and slipped his fingers into my hair.

"Blue!" he whispered wonderingly. "In the sunlight it's so glossy black it's almost blue". He trailed a finger across my cheekbone and down over my lips. "I never thought to see you this way..."

A thought seemed to occur to him and he jumped up. "Don't move! I'll be right back!"

He dashed back into the cottage and reappeared a moment later with an armful of furs which he laid down on the grass. He turned to me and gave me a slow, sensual smile. "Take your clothes off Mrs Compton" he drawled. "I am going to make love to you right here...in the sunshine!"

"Oh you are?" I smiled and kicked off my shoes, stepping onto the furs. "I think I might need some help here..." I wriggled out of my skirt and T shirt and sat down, looking up at him, my demon lover, my husband. Somehow he had never looked so dangerous. His ivory pale skin glowed in the sunlight making him look much more alien than he did in darkness. A beautiful, inhuman predator. But then you saw the depth and warmth of his eyes...

He had pulled off his shirt and tossed it down in the cottage somewhere, unfastened his belt and the top button of his jeans which had slipped low on his hips. I could see the soft, pale curve of his hipbones and between them, the coarse trail of dark hair which ran from his navel down his stomach and disappeared under the zipper of his jeans.

With a wicked smile on his face, he hooked his fingers into the waistband and pushed them down, stepping out of them and kneeling down in front of me. He reached around me and unclasped my bra, letting it slide down my arms and kissed me, his hands roaming over my body in slow, unhurried motions, the urgent passion of our wedding night burnt out now. His hands slipped down over my thighs, spreading my knees apart and he began to tease me, trailing his fingers over me until I began to whimper and our slow sensual kiss became deeper and more passionate

He smiled and took one of my nipples in his mouth, rolling it on his tongue, biting and sucking it gently. Then he gently pushed my lacy knickers down and slipped one finger down between my thighs.

I gave a little moan. "Oh Bill, please..."

He bit down harder on my nipple and started to trace small circles with his thumb, one finger sliding inside me. My breathing became ragged, and I moaned louder. He curled his finger inside me and hit that spot, rubbing it gently. Putting a hand behind my shoulders he laid me down gently on my back on the furs and knelt over me for a moment, leaning forward with his weight on his elbows, he gave me a long, deep sensual kiss. Then with one swift thrust he pushed into me, his length stretching me almost to the point of pain and I cried out his name at the sensation of feeling him. He began to move in a slow, leisurely rhythm in which he pulled out fully, before pushing back into me, filling me to the hilt. My hips began to rock and I dug my nails into his arms, hanging onto him desperately.

"Please…harder, faster." I begged him, feeling my climax building up deep within me.

He began to move faster, rolling his hips, hitting that spot. Reaching down he took both of my legs, lifting them on his shoulders, angling my body upwards. Once satisfied with the position, he started a harder, punishing pace.

"Yes, yes, like that…" I whimpered. "I'm close…don't stop…" He reached down between us and brushed my swollen flesh with his thumb and a wave of pleasure hit me as I gasped out his name.

I came to lying on my back on the furs, Bill's arm draped possessively over my chest. His skin felt warm from the sun and I wondered how long we had been lying there.

"Bill?" I whispered. "Don't you think you should be careful? You might burn."

He looked down at me with a puzzled expression. "If I was going to burn it would have happened by now!"

"No, not like that! I mean ordinary sunburn...your skin is so pale." I struggled to get up on one elbow and look at him properly. He suddenly burst out laughing.

"It's not funny Bill!" I said "I've had sunburn and it's agony!"

"I'm sorry sweetheart." he said, still laughing "I was just trying to picture the reaction of the High Council of the Authority if I were to return from my honeymoon with a suntan!"

I lay down again and cuddled up to him, loving the rumbling in his chest as he laughed. "Bill?" I asked quietly. "Why did you change your mind about the wedding?"

He turned to me looking suddenly concerned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well...at first you were all for keeping our engagement a secret and not telling anyone and then suddenly you announced that you wanted to be married in a few weeks in Long Compton."

He lay back with one arm beneath his head and looked up at the bright, cloudless blue sky.

"I think...it's hard to explain." He thought for a moment. "It was something the vicar said about how we cannot know how our lives will change. You know that vampires are strong, tough, hard to kill. As a mortal you seem so...vulnerable... to me, fragile...I had always thought that we would be parted when something happened to take you from me. That I would lose you, but you see I was wrong. What in fact happened was that you nearly lost me! Peter was right. None of us can know what might happen to us in the future. We must just grasp what happiness we can and make the most of what we have now." He kissed me again. "And you make me so very happy..."

He smiled down at me. "The ceremony wasn't really necessary to me. I've considered myself bound to you for a long time. I've known I belong to you ever since I saw that man from the Warriors of Ra pull out a gun and aim it at you. I didn't even have to think about it, I just stepped in front of you..." his eyes had a distant expression as he thought back to that terrible night. "All I knew was that I couldn't bear to lose you...that you belonged to me..."

We looked at each other for a moment. "I love you" he said simply "and I want everyone to know it.

I relaxed into his arms. "I love you too..."

We spent a week in Faery, although we had to sneak back to the Mill House once or twice for supplies. Cooking facilities were non-existent so I baked potatoes in the ashes of the fire and cooked sausages over the flames. We brought back Tru Blood for Bill but all he seemed to need was me. He tried not to take too much of my blood but we both enjoyed it so much it was very difficult.

Bill spent a lot of his time lying in the sun but whatever was missing in the light here, whatever prevented his flesh from burning, also meant that he failed to tan. I had to admit that I was enormously relieved at this. I simply couldn't imagine how we would explain that without having every vamp in the country angling for an invitation!

We explored the area and made love on the furs in front of the fire, in the cosy alcove, beside the lake, in the lake and once even under the waterfall, Bill standing up and holding me in his arms with my legs wrapped around his waist. We gave up on clothing after the first day or so as the place had a pleasant, even temperature and we appeared to be entirely alone. At least, until the day Bill jumped far out into the lake with me in his arms. I opened my eyes and looked around as we sank down into the water, the sunlight filtering down giving a pale green tint to everything. As I peered into a bank of reeds I saw a face looking back at me. I was so surprised that I nearly choked. It looked human except for the eyes which were huge and round and, as I stared at it I realised that what I had taken at first to be weeds were in fact strands of long green floating hair.

Then I felt Bill kick strongly and I was carried up to the surface. I must have looked shocked when I opened my eyes because Bill tensed, immediately on the alert. I was just about to tell him what I'd seen when I noticed a patch of weed floating on the surface and pointed at it silently. He turned his head and, just as he did so, the weed lifted up from the water to reveal a face underneath.

We stared at each other for a moment. It was hard to say who was the more surprised. Then there was a swirl of water and it was gone. We walked back to the cottage thoughtfully.

"I knew there was something there!" I muttered to myself. "I felt it when we arrived."

"Some kind of water fae?" suggested Bill. "I wonder if she'll stay now that we've seen her."

"She?" I asked. "You think she's female?"

He laughed. "I've no idea! But whatever it is, it's welcome to stay. I want this place to be a haven for us and any fae that want to live here with us are very welcome!" He picked me up and carried me inside. "We have to go back tonight. I've got an important meeting at the Authority and I promised Lilith I would be there."

"Does she know where we are?" I asked.

"Yes...I had to tell her or she would have panicked when she could no longer feel me. But she won't say anything. She knows my relationship with Queen Mab is too important to risk."

"Have you any idea what Mab wants you to do for her?"

"None whatsoever" answered Bill. "But this place...this is probably the most wonderful gift anyone could ever give me. I'll do anything I can for her."

An hour later we had collected our few belongings and were standing beside the portal. I looked back down to the cottage and the lake. Bill slipped his arm around my waist. "Whatever happens in the future. Sitting in endless meetings with the Authority, arguing with politicians, media interviews, I'll always have you to come home to, and we'll always have this place as a refuge for when it all gets too much."

He kissed me again. "Come on Mrs Compton, let's go home..."


End file.
